Sarcasm Isn't an Answer for Everything
by Mrs Billy Pratt
Summary: Juliette is an under-appreciated fantastically sarcastic genius who comes from a family of jerks. The only thing she wants is a chance to be her own person. Then, just when she least expects it, a guy from some 'school' recruits her and the place he takes her is not at all what she expected...
1. Guns and Implants

She blew a huge, wet raspberry at the evils that stood outside her door, slamming the door to her 'room' as she did.

"Loser!" yelled Brynna.

"Maybe we can get Mom to kick her out," suggested Amelie.

Juliette sighed, leaning against her door and letting her feet slide out from under her. "Cinderella story?" she muttered, "yeah, right. Where's my fairy godmother? Where's my Prince Charming?"

Her life was the epitome of hell. She gazed out the small window of her attic/room at the beautiful view that she couldn't enjoy. A mess of auburn curls fell into her face, blocking her vision and she blew them away. She had a life that most people would kill for, one that she neither wanted nor was grateful for. Her parents were the same ones who had put her into this world; they were still horrible. Her sisters were what she was supposed to be: perfect, pink, and precious.

Instead, she worked on the ranch with all the hired people, she knew how to ride a horse (and was good, too) and she had never wanted to be the youngest daughter of a rich business man. Her and her family represented both sides of the south: the rich aristocratic part, and the not so pretty, not so rich, farm-owning, truck-driving, family oriented part of it. She played volleyball in high school; her sisters did cheer. She excelled and graduated with several letters from universities soon to follow; Brynna had barely escaped flunking and Amelie never got her diploma.

Why couldn't life be simple? Juliette wondered pathetically.

"Juliette!" screamed a shrill voice. She sighed.

She stood up and jerked open the door, screaming back, "What?!"

"Get your butt down here!" her mother yelled. "You call these dishes _clean?_"

She ran down the stairs singing under her breath, "…he ain't feelin' anything…my world, my heart is standin' still…and I'm livin' in a hurricane, when all he can say is man, ain't it such a nice day…" When she arrived at the foot of the second flight she had gone down, she paused. She focused on the conversation going on downstairs, realizing that a voice she didn't recognize was joined in it. It was male, definitely.

"…we believe your daughter has some qualities we look for at the school I represent," the man explained.

Her mother gasped. "Did Brynna make it to a modeling school? Oh, my goodness, how fantastic! We always knew she'd do it!"

Juliette snorted to herself. Brynna was ug-lee. Platinum blonde hair, all permed up, and implants bigger than her head.

The man spoke again. "No, ma'am, I was actually referring to—"

"Amelie? An actress? Oh, Amelie! She always was one with a flair for the dramatics!"

Amelie was just an idiot with a flair for hooking up with her friends' boyfriends. She couldn't string four words together.

"No. I was talking about your other daughter. Miss Juliette." The man finished with a tone of finality, like what he said was drastically important.

Her parents were silent. "Why?" burst her father. "She's not nearly as pretty as her sisters, I'm sure you'd much rather take one of them—?"

"No, sir, I'm sure. You see, she won't be coming back home when I take her to my—school. It's more like college, really." The man sounded surprised at her dad's clear dismissal of the possibility that Juliette of all people could excel in something.

Juliette stood with her eyes wide open, not breathing, waiting for Brynna to pop out of the shadows, screaming, "Loser! I can't believe you fell for it!"

"Well-," her mom said uneasily, "she should be right down, I called her a few minutes ago…"

Juliette waited ten seconds before coming down the last flight of stairs.

"I cleaned the dishes, mom, I know I did—oh. Hello." Juliette pretended to falter when she saw the man: brown hair, suit and tie, and a very official looking brochure in hand.

"My name is Mr. Coulson," he smiled and shook her hand.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Juliette Rosewood," she said.

"I understand that you recently graduated from high school?" he asked kind enough.

"Uh, yeah. About six months ago, but yes." She noticed something in his inside coat pocket: a lump, about the size and shape of…"Why are you carrying a gun, Mr. Coulson?" Juliette cocked her head.

He smiled, not at all the response she was expecting. "I can be a very paranoid person. Ever since I fought in Afghanistan, I've been very jittery about sneak attacks."

"Oh, okay. Sorry to ask." Juliette didn't think the story quite fit.

"Julie, honey," her mom said as warmly as she could, "Mr. Coulson wants you to attend his school. It's a university." Her tone said, 'Say yes,' but her eyes said, 'If you accept, I will let your life become hell.'

Seeing as Juliette's life was already hell; she figured getting away from her family would be the best thing for her. "Sure I'll go," she said brightly. "Sounds great!"

"Wh—" her mother faltered.

"I'll get my stuff packed now, and we can be on our way. Why don't you stay here for a day or two to help me with my boxes?" she smiled at him and he smiled back.

Okay, Juliette thought, maybe I can be my own fairy godmother.

**A/N: Recently, I had an epiphany. I figured out that my fics….SUCK. They all revolve around a two dimensional romance that has no background and is somewhat annoying.**

**SO…I added a dimension. A backstory, a beginning. And it might suck anyways, but it's better than what I had, so whatever.**

**ALL suggestions are welcome, except slash ones. I don't ship any slash. I'm sorry. It's just not my thing. Please review, it'll make my day!**

**Oh yeah: I NEED HELP WITH TITLES.**

**That will be all.**


	2. HATERS GONNA HATE

After two days of being ignored by her family, she was all set and ready for some serious moving-ness.

"Alright, Phil, let's get a move on," she said as the last box was loaded.

He looked at her, surprised. "How'd you know my name?"

She shrugged. "I may have gone through your wallet yesterday. What does SHIELD stand for anyways?"

"I could tell you," he sighed, going into the front seat of his car, "but it would take ten minutes."

Juliette piled into the passenger seat of his Chrysler 300 and gave a low whistle. "Nice car."

He shrugged, pressing the button to start the engine. "My company got it for me."

She smiled and turned on the radio. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Phil adjusted the mirror and drove out of the 'driveway', a cloud of dust whirling out from behind him. "New York City, to be exact."

Juliette cheered and said gleefully, "Guess you're my fairy godmother, eh?"

"Yeah," Phil sighed, "guess so."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

About two days later, they were there.

New York City, the Big Apple…the real world.

"Wow," breathed Juliette, the Coldplay song 'Clocks' playing in her iPod. She gazed out her window, amazed, as they passed Times Square.

Phil chuckled at her reaction. "Never been to New York?"

"I've never been anywhere in this country other than Kentucky. I've been to Asia…but that's not exactly fine living if you know what I mean."

Phil glanced at her. He seemed to hesitate before saying, "You're not going to school, you know."

She didn't seem to care. "I know what SHIELD is, Phil. The Avengers and all that, right? Iron Man/Tony Stark, Captain America/…some dude, the Hulk/Dr. Banner, Hawkeye/…another guy, and the Black Widow/…a ninja assassin, plus there's Thor, who doesn't have another name." She was still looking out the window at the passing people.

"Wha—what?" Phil stayed somewhat calm and collected, but it was clear that he was bewildered.

"Are we going to the Stark tower?" she asked, excited.

"No…no, we're going to the Avengers Tower." He glanced at her again.

She nodded, "…_oh, I beg, I beg and plead_…anyways, is that where they all live? Sounds cool."

He glanced at her and curiosity got the best of him, "What's that you're listening to?"

"It's, um…it's called an iPod…?" She said, but he shook his head. "Oh! Oh, it's Coldplay. Clocks. I love Coldplay. I have a bunch of different stuff on here though: Miranda Lambert, Green Day, Daft Punk, and the Beatles, I even have some Justin Bieber on here."

The conversation that followed made Phil's day. Juliette was an interesting girl, and she certainly loved music. Just talking to her about it made Phil get excited, which wasn't too easy to do…unless, of course, you were Captain America, but that's not the point.

Before they knew it, the building looming up in front of them was the one Phil had been looking for for days. "We have arrived." He sighed.

"Whoa," mouthed Juliette. A man in a Black Sabbath t-shirt and jeans came out of the side of the huge building, someone Juliette recognized.

"Hey, Philly Cheesesteak." He grinned.

"Hello, Tony. How's the day been?" Phil asked, somewhat exasperated.

He shrugged and grabbed Phil's bag before Phil could grab it. "Banner only Hulk'd out once and Stevie Wonder destroyed the fridge again," he rolled his eyes. "I might be a billionaire, but I'm not made of money."

Juliette glanced at the car, which sat in the front with both doors open. "Um…aren't you gonna get that?"

Tony waved her off. "JARVIS will take care of it. I never caught your name…?"

"Juliette. Juliette Rosewood," she shook his hand.

Phil gestured to her bags in the back and said, "Tony. Get the bags, or bring Steve down to get them."

"JARVIS…" Tony looked up at the ceiling as they entered an elevator.

"On it, sir," spoke a random accented voice from the ceiling.

"I can get them, it's fine." Juliette motioned, struggling with the bags she had.

Tony shrugged. "Whatever. Your choice."

They arrived at the floor and waiting for them was a disheveled looking blonde guy who was much better looking than any magazines gave him credit for. "Captain…" she stared, but the guy interrupted her.

"Just call me—"

"He prefers to be called Captain Rogers," smirked Tony, interrupting.

Captain America (or Captain Rogers, whatever) gave Tony a glare. "No, call me Steve."

"Juliette," she stuck her hand out and he shook it. "Juliette Rosewood." She rolled her eyes as she said her last name.

"Excuse my…," he trailed off, gesturing to his clothes and hair. "my appearance. I was just trying to get Thor from accidentally murdering all the people eating Pop-tarts."

"What?" Juliette glanced at Phil for help, but he was too busy rolling his eyes.

Steve shook his head. "Never mind. Anyways, someone needed bags picked up?"

"Let's go get my bags and stuff," Juliette dropped her bags at the side of the elevator and walked back inside.

Standing In the elevator next to a famous guy can be really awkward, especially if said famous guy keeps trying to make conversation.

Eventually, though, he said, "I'll just shut up now." By that time, the elevator had reached the bottom.

"Bags…oh, there they are." He casually walked over to the open trunk of the car and grabbed as many boxes as he could carry, which happened to be all five of them.

"Do you want any…?" Juliette trailed off when she saw that he clearly had a handle on it.

"So," Steve attempted to converse again, "where are you from?"

She almost laughed when she saw the look on his face: he was cringing, as though he expected a snappish reply. To his surprise, she answered kindly, "Kentucky. Where are you from?"

"I…," he sighed. "Brooklyn. Of course, I haven't been there in about seventy years, but…Brooklyn, none the less."

"It must really suck," she commented, "being from the forties."

"Yeah, well," he said, "I try my best to help."

She rolled her eyes. Mr. Perfect. These were the kind of people she had never liked.

"Wow," she muttered, and Steve heard her.

"What?" he questioned.

"You're even more or a goody-two-shoes than People magazine thought you were," she snorted.

"Gee, thanks," he raised his eyebrows. "And you're even more of a stuck-up teenager than Fury said." It wasn't like Steve to say something like that, but something about this girl got to him like no one else could, not even Tony.

"Excuse me, but I believe I'm twenty," she raised her voice. "So stop pretending you know everything, okay?"

"Excuse me, but I believe that I helped save the world," He couldn't believe this girl! "And _I'm _the one who's being a total know-it-all?"

"What an ass," she murmured.

"Do you want to carry this?" he stated, somewhat rudely.

"Why not?" she yelled. "That way no grimy fingerprints get all over my belongings!"

He promptly dropped it and walked toward the elevator, thoroughly ticked off.

She dragged the boxes one by one. "Jerk," she murmured, waiting for the elevator.

"Jerk," he mumbled, leaving the elevator.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Miss Rosewood," a black haired woman who snapped her gum too loudly and had probably crossed that thick line between working at an office and working as a can-can girl in Las Vegas said disdainfully. "What kind of a name is that?" She gave a short bark of laughter.

"It's my name." Juliette ground her teeth. "Just call me Juliette, okay?"

"Whatever," the woman rolled her eyes, "My name is Vanessa."

"Hi." Juliette said almost sarcastically.

"I get to be your guide for a couple of days, until one of the AIs get you," she smiled, showing unnaturally white teeth.

"AI?" Juliette asked quizzically.

"Avengers Initiative, duh," Vanessa rolled her eyes. "God, do you live under a rock? Oh, no, wait—you live with all the hillbillies in Kentucky."

Just as she said that, none other than Bruce Banner passed by, looking flustered and gathering his papers as he walked. He stopped when he heard Vanessa and walked over.

"Vanessa, do you have a problem with your trainee?" Banner said smoothly.

"Oh, of course not," Vanessa seemed shocked that he would even suggest it. "We already have some real bonding time under our belts."

Another man passed by, muttering as he heard the conversation, "Shut up, 'Nessa. We all know that means you plan on beating the shawarma out of her."

Bruce looked concernedly at Juliette. "I can take her now. She's a special case anyways; she can train with two AIs."

"Bye-bye," Juliette waved as the doctor walked her toward the lab.

Vanessa glared after her. "I hate newbies."

"It seems you've already made yourself another enemy," Bruce gave a half-smile.

"What do you mean by another?" Juliette insisted defensively.

"You've already gotten on Captain's nerves," Bruce smiled still, "and that is not exactly an easy thing to do."

"He really is an ass wipe," she mumbled.

Bruce laughed. "He _also _said that you were incredibly pretty and smart, and that your eyes are such a dramatic color of green that every time you'd blink, he found himself compelled to look at you."

She stood stock-still and just blinked. "Well—the—I—there's no—,"

Bruce smiled satisfactorily. "Not so much of an ass anymore, is he?"

"Just because he's…I don't know…beautiful, I guess…doesn't mean he reserves the right to speak down to me!" she fumed.

"Don't forget those blue eyes." Bruce was still smiling.

"Don't even think about it," she grumbled.

Bruce laughed again and opened the door to the lab.

"Hello," Tony beamed. "What do we have here?"

"Didn't you already meet me…?" Juliette gazed at her surroundings: A giant lab, the size of an entire floor.

"Didn't know you'd be into technology," Tony mused.

"She's not, I just saved her from certain demise by way of Vanessa," Bruce rolled his eyes. "She gets to train with us for a while, and then we'll switch her off to pretty boy."

She sat down, not paying attention to what they were joking about.

"So," Tony went back to his work, "news is that you've already got a hater."

She rolled her eyes. "Over-sensitive brat," she groaned. "He's a pig with the prettiest eyes you've ever seen."

Tony smirked. "Yeah, we know."

Bruce didn't look up from his hologram of cellular decomposition and combustion as he murmured to Tony, "She seems to think he was talking down to her."

Tony outright laughed. "He might be somewhat gullible, annoyingly good at sticking to rules, and picky, but he never, ever, ever talks down to anyone. Ever." He quickly eyed her.

"I'm leaving," she grumbled, "It's lunch time anyways."

Bruce checked his watch. "It is! Let's go."

She groaned, then laughed as Tony mimicked her in a falsetto.

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz. Because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things he does!" sang Tony, linking arms with Juliette and Bruce and skipping.

Juliette couldn't help but sing along. So maybe not _everyone _sucked.

It was a pretty good deal, overall.


	3. Scars and Nice People

**A/N: First things first, right? Right. Juliette Rosewood 2.0 sucks again. (To those of you who have read my other stories: You know **_**exactly **_**what I mean.) As AaylaKitofNiflhiem put, she is not showing much genius abilities, everyone likes her except the bad guys even though she's a brat, and for some reason SHIELD wants her. To those of you who can see that, yes, she sucks…SHAME. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED.**

…**Just kidding.**

**BUT SERIOUSLY.**

…

…

…**Anyways. This chapter promises that you will get to see why she got recruited, more haters, and less butt-faced ness. **

**So…chapter three!**

"I thought you didn't eat French fries," mused Clint, snagging a handful from Natasha's plate. She glared at him.

"I never said that, Barton," she hissed, stealing the fried yummies back. She looked up at the stormy-eyed captain. "What happened to _you_?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" he grumbled.

Clint snickered. "He got in a fight with the newbie."

Natasha rolled her eyes.

Suddenly Steve's head perked up. "What's that sound? Is that from _The Wizard of Oz_?"

Thor, who was seated next to Clint, also heard it. "It sounds like the Man of Iron and his green friend, along with a female voice I do not recognize."

Sure enough, skipping out of the hallway to the stairs was Bruce, Tony, and… "Oh, great," mumbled Steve.

She face-palmed when she saw who was sitting at the table Tony was dragging her to. "Rogers," she said primly.

"Rosewood," he greeted as Tony took the seat next to him.

There was an awkward pause before Clint said, feigning cheerfulness, "So…what's your special ability?"

Juliette looked confused. "My…what?"

"You know. Your cool thing that's so valuable for SHIELD?" Tony elaborated.

"I don't…I don't have one," she said plainly.

Bruce nodded, assuring. "Today you get to find out. We'll put you through a series of tests and the one that gets the highest score…you'll know eventually."

"It certainly isn't working with others," muttered Clint, glancing at Steve. Natasha punched his arm and he blanched.

Juliette shrugged. "I have a bit of a problem with mincing words. I just…like to speak up? I don't know."

Bruce whispered in her ear. "Maybe you should apologize…?"

Before she could speak, Thor started talking. "Where do you come from?"

Juliette couldn't help but feel a serious case of déjà vu. "Uh…Kentucky."

Thor smiled. "I am from Asgard."

"Is that, like, in New Jersey or something?" Juliette pulled a blank face.

"It's a different realm," Steve spoke, surprising everyone at the table. "I don't really understand, but…I don't think anybody else does either."

The group muttered amongst themselves. "Well…" "Not really, but…" "It's like another galaxy, right?"

"So," she gestured to Thor, still confused. "He's an alien?"

"Yeah," everyone said in unison.

"Crud," muttered Bruce, looking at his watch, "I have a presentation for a group of agents in five minutes. I'll catch up with you all later. Tony, you take Juliette to the test."

He ran off without waiting for an answer.

Tony stood and stretched. "That's no good. I have a meeting for Stark Industries. Pepper told me if I miss this one she'll kill me, so…Big Bird, you take her." He, too, left.

"Training." Clint waved his hands in a 'sorry' gesture. "Tasha…?"

"I have to be on a plane in twenty minutes. Not going to happen," she explained, clearing her tray. "Thor, you get to take her."

He shook his head. "I am due in New Mexico…an hour ago! I must be off!" He ran, accidentally flipping over tables in the cafeteria as he went.

Steve, who had been staring out the window for the entire conversation, was now being stared at by three people.

"You're free for the next three hours," Clint said slowly.

"Huh?" Steve suddenly looked up to see Clint, Natasha, and Juliette watching him warily. "Oh, no. No way. Don't you have somewhere to be?" he said frantically as the truth struck him.

"Hey, wait a second!" yelled Juliette as Clint and Natasha quickly walked off.

They glared at each other.

Juliette suddenly started feeling really, really…_bad_. It was completely her fault that he now hated her, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized just how bad she felt. He had every right to hate her! He was a nice guy. _I'm the bad guy in this situation, _Juliette realized. Then she made the mistake of looking him in the eyes. They really were a beautiful color. And they didn't look angry, not at her. They looked…_hurt, _and really lost and sad. She stood there, taking in everything from the little scar on his upper lip to the way he put his hands in his pockets: everything except the thumbs.

"Juliette?" Steve asked. "Juliette?"

She snapped herself out of her trance with a quick _You're fooling yourself, stupid head. _"Yeah?"

"Man, you just totally spaced," he said.

"Isn't that phrase a little new for someone your…uh, era?" she winced as she said it.

He shrugged. "Living with Tony gives me an entirely new vocabulary."

She rolled her eyes. "I just bet it does."

They laughed awkwardly.

Juliette took a deep breath before having an extreme case of word vomit. "Okay, I know I was a jerk before but now I realized that so I just wanted you to know that I don't actually hate you and if I'm gonna be living here than we might as well just get over that little, uh, spat that I caused so basically what I'm trying to say here is that I'm really, really, really sorry and will you please forgive me?"

Steve stopped and stared at her.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Yeah, it's fine, I guess. I just got, um…upset," Steve nodded coolly.

She sighed. "You have no idea what you just did to the weight on my chest."

"So," he smiled. "I guess we can start over?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" She smiled back.

"Hi. My name is Steve," he said blankly.

"Hello. My name is Juliette." She took his outstretched hand. "What do you do here at the lovely facility of SHIELD?"

"Oh, nothing much," He laughed.

The next few minutes they just talked. Random conversation ended when Steve said, "I guess this means we're friends?"

Juliette thought about that a few minutes. "Yeah. I guess it does."

"So now what?" he wondered aloud.

"Just stop being a jerk," she joked, "at least for me."

"Yeah, pretty much," he said seriously. She elbowed his ribs. "Ouch."

Juliette left the silence that followed untouched, wondering how on earth he could not see how she was gazing at him, memorizing this moment. He really was oblivious. She rolled her eyes. All guys were, especially the ones you end up falling for. Not that she was falling for anybody, but it was just an interesting thought.

"Here we are," he said cheerfully. He swung open the door to the only room in a dimly lit hallway at the underground portion of the tower.

"Gee, thanks," she muttered. The room was indescribably huge. It was separated into cubicles that obviously contained the tests.

"Start here," he said, pointing to the cubicle that faced them, open. "Good luck!"

"That was the understatement of the century." Juliette blew her hair out of her face and strode forward.

The first tests she failed. They were technology and engineering, astronomy and particle reproduction. She was okay at science, but with SHIELD, an honors class is what they call Science 101. She wasn't very strong and she couldn't take down an entire army of plastic ninjas, she was no bow and arrow expert and she didn't study the habits of extraterrestrial life on Europa. The agility test was pretty high of a score, but she didn't want to be Balance Girl.

There were times when she didn't care. Actually, for the majority of the tests she didn't care. She barely remembered her scores. At the end she left the last cage panting. Steve sat with a few people who worked the cameras. The three men were staring, mouths gaping open, at one test, rewinding it every time it finished. "Holy…," murmured Steve.

"Did I do something wrong?" Juliette wondered nervously.

"Are you…are you _kidding me_?" he looked up at her, amazement spelled out on his face. "That…that was incredible! That was absolutely amazing!"

"What'd I do?" she wondered aloud.

"Come here," he grabbed her arm and pulled, bringing her over at the speed of light, and she got a nasty case of goose bumps right where he touched her.

The screen displayed a video of Juliette using a near perfect example of 'chi blocking' fighting technique. All that is, is pressure point fighting: the chi blocker uses jabs and punches aimed toward different pressure points in the body, therefore knocking the opponent out, or even killing them.

"Holy shawarma," murmured Juliette wonderingly.

Steve looked up at her, his face serious. "Name three ways to kill me with chi blocking."

Something in her head clicked. "One punch to the left side of the neck, two jabs to each temple, and a sharp elbow to the center of your ribs." She looked at him in amazement. "Was that…was that _me?_"

"Yes," he sighed, sitting back in his spinney chair, "as a matter of fact, it was."

She blinked and looked at the frozen screen. Then she looked at Steve's beaming face.

She threw herself around his neck. "I don't have to go back to my parents' house!" she cheered.

"Can you get off me?" said a muffled voice.

"Oh, right," Juliette stood and straightened her t-shirt, "sorry."

"So now we tell Fury," the smile slid off Steve's face. "He will definitely want to hear this."

"Who's…?" her question was met by a 'don't ask' look from the two men next to him.

As Steve 'escorted her' to the main floor, he joked, "So now does this mean you can beat me up?"

"You wouldn't want to meet me in a dark alley, that's for sure."

He laughed. "I suppose we'll just see, then, won't we?"

"Pshaw. There is no person quite as awesome as me, except maybe you."

"The two of us together would be an unstoppable team, that much is certain."

She sighed. "You have no idea," she muttered to him.

"What?" he questioned.

"Oh, nothing," she put her hair in a ponytail. He caught her hand and gently pulled the rubber band out. "What was that for?"

"Nothing—it's just that—you look prettier with your hair down," he mumbled, blushing.

She glanced at him. "Thanks. You do, too."

He cracked a smile.

She did too.

_The weirdest friendship I've ever had,_ she thought, _is also the best. How is it that I've known this guy for a day and I'm already falling in love with him?_


	4. Eyepatch Dude slash Furious George

"Of all the asinine things, Tony!" was what greeted them when they arrived on the main floor. Steve looked at the ceiling and sighed, grabbing the arm of the red-faced and red-haired woman as she passed. "What, Steve?"

"What did Tony do this time?" Steve spared a glance toward Juliette, who had a slightly amused look on her face.

"Would you believe that he _sold _my art collection, the one I've been working on for years?" the woman said frantically, her hair falling out of its bun.

"He did that last year, didn't he?" Steve said, confused.

"Yes, except then he used the money to buy a piece of women's jewelry!" She looked to the side, exasperated, and almost jumped when she saw Juliette. "Hi, I'm…I'm Pepper Potts."

"Juliette Rosewood," Juliette almost laughed when she saw the look on Steve's face.

"What's so funny!?" Pepper thought she was laughing at her situation.

"I'm sorry, it's just kind of humorous to watch Steve attempt to solve this," she pointed to the man, who currently had his head cocked and he looked like a toddler learning physics.

Pepper glanced at him. "He isn't very good."

"Wait, I actually had an explanation," Steve spoke up. "What kind of jewelry was it?"

"A Tiffany ring," Pepper sighed, "just the kind I wanted, too."

"Maybe he was going to give it to you?" Steve waited for the statement to sink in.

She gaped. "Thank you so much Steve. See, I told you he was good at this!" She ran off.

"Tony makes her a little frazzled," Steve sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "They definitely have something going on. Tony's just too stupid to see it."

"He is, huh?" Juliette poked him in the ribs. "Well, how on earth did you come to that conclusion?"

"It was really obvious," Steve sounded concerned. "Juliette, how did you not know that?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was being sarcastic…?"

"_Oh_!" Steve blushed. "Yeah, I knew that."

"Of course you did," Juliette said. "So, where's Fury?"

Steve grimaced. "Loki's…cage/hamster wheel."

"I'm sorry…did you just say _hamster wheel?_" Juliette gaped at him.

He nodded grimly. "He's probably going to try to break your mind, or get you drunk, or um…or cause you to, well…let's just say that I never want to have to see Buzz naked again."

"Wait, hang on a second—don't you think it's a little, I don't know, _stupid_ to keep this guy somewhere he can seduce you guys?" Juliette accused. "And who the hell is Buzz?"

Tony stopped randomly and grinned at her. "MCNAB!" he screamed. A young guy with a short haircut popped out from a corner and said respectfully, "Yes, sir?"

"Get me some coffee!" he still yelled. Tony glanced at the two, Steve rolling his eyes, Juliette looking bewildered. He whispered to them out of the corner of his mouth, "His old boss, some guy named Lassiter, used to yell at him all the time, so now he comes when you scream."

"Yes, sir," he had an innocent smile on his face, and he was very childish looking.

As the man walked away, Tony joined the two. "That," he grinned, "is Buzz."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Dear lord help you."

"Is that a bit of Irish Catholic comin' out of you, Wonder Woman?" Tony asked playfully.

Steve blushed, muttering something in Latin. "Who told you I was Catholic?"

"JARVIS, of course," Tony playfully punched his arm, causing the soldier to punch Tony's arm back, not quite as playfully, and Tony heard a pop sound emit from his shoulder. "Oh my god! My arm! You dislocated my shoulder!"

Steve gave what Juliette thought was a smirk: it didn't work because he was trying hard not to laugh. "Well, then, maybe you should learn to _not punch the guy who can kill you with his thumbs._"

Juliette immediately knew that Tony's shoulder was fine: she got a mental image of the inside of his shoulder (microscopic, but she didn't know that). It showed the bone nice and firm; the skin and blood vessels, however, were another story. Steve had smash a few capillaries, causing Tony's shoulder to look like an ugly bruise.

When she said this out loud, Steve and Tony both stopped and stared at her, amazed. After a few seconds, Steve let out a low whistle. "So you're like a walking human biology book."

"Holy sh—awarma," Tony corrected quickly, glancing at Steve. "So is that what you were going to tell Furious George?"

Juliette laughed. "Furious George?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm having an off day."

Steve snorted, turning into a long hall that was filled with offices, mostly hospital-like ones. Juliette could see gurneys with bleeding people, including Hawkeye and Natasha, both of whom had arrows lodged in their knees.

"I knew I shouldn't have taught you how to use my bow, damn it," ground out Clint.

"You should be glad that arrow isn't sticking out of your eye socket, asshole," she grimaced as the nurse struggled to push her into the room. She cursed in Russian, leading Clint to whack her in the arm.

"That's…normal?" Juliette pointed to the two, who were now screaming in various languages, including some that didn't 'officially' exist. "What the hell do they _feed _you people?"

Steve chuckled. "I have no clue. It's like some kind of weird mystery meat—"

"But that's only on Tuesdays. I don't know what's in Friday's stuff," Tony made gestures with his hands.

Juliette made a face. "That was sarcasm, Tony."

"I know."

The three turned into a room that was totally clear, except Juliette had never seen it before. "One-way windows," murmured Steve, edging her closer to the spinney chair that matched the white office.

The chair spun around and a guy that didn't match the room at all smiled. "I've been expecting you, agent."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Is this the part where she says 'What did you expect me to do?' and you say, 'I expect you to die, Mr. Bond!' Come on, Furious George. Be original for once."

"No," Fury said, "I actually expected Captain Fluff-n-Fold to take five minutes in taking her to the test. Now I'm an hour off-schedule, meaning the free time for the Avengers to bond with Miss Rosewood has been cut down."

"Uh…bond?" asked Juliette sarcastically.

"Yes," smirked Fury. "Bond. Twister, Titanic, Spin the Bottle…whatever you wish."

Juliette winced. "Fun."

Suddenly, Tony gave a start. "You need a nickname or two. There's the obvious choice of Jules…hmm. I'll have to work on that." He left, yelling for Pepper.

"That's normal," muttered Fury. "Captain, go help Buzz train the new ones."

"But, sir, I—yes, sir." He gave up, hitting Juliette with an 'I wish I could help' shrug and look.

After he left, Fury motioned for her to sit.

She didn't.

He glared at her, inspecting.

She still didn't move.

He finally sighed. "You wanted to know why we chose you. You aren't the only one." He waved his hand toward the door. "Captain Rogers himself asked that once. So did Stark, the Widow, Hawk…we all have at one point. The reason is never the same.

"We want you because of your skill, but we need you for your attitude. Your team working skills that—contrary to the belief of the team—you not only possess, but you also use well. Your first mission is to find out the other reasons we chose _you_. You may fight side by side with the greatest fighters in this damn planet, and maybe the universe, but you will know your skill whenever you need it most."

She gulped. Those words sounded very ominous.

In about five minutes she would be cursing and thinking, _YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO EYEPATCH DUDE! _

In about five seconds, however, she stood at the top of the stairs, surprised at the face that waited for her.

"Hey, Steve,' she blinked at his anxious face, "I thought you had some weirdoes to train."

He shrugged. "I wanted to wait for you. It's not every day you get a new best friend."

"Gee, thanks," she said, flattered. They started walking down the stairs. "So did you even go downstairs?"

"No," he put simply, half smiling as he continued. "That usually isn't an option if you become somewhat…er, close to me. What did Director Fury say?"

"Stuff about why I was there,' she shrugged. They walked a few steps before she said randomly, "Have you ever had a best friend before?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I, uh, yeah I did. His name was Bucky Barnes. Actually, his name was James," he smiled, melancholy in his eyes. "He fell off a train on the side of a cliff and I…I couldn't save him."

She didn't say anything. She knew what it was like to lose a friend or loved one. She knew that words never helped. "My friend Nell got cancer when we were freshmen and she died a year later."

All he did was reach over to her and hook his pinky around hers, oblivious to the warmth that had spread to her body.

Then the world exploded.

And the last thing Juliette felt was his pinky, still curled tightly around hers, joined by all of his fingers as he desperately tried to catch her.


	5. Little Things can Cause You Damage

**A/N: First off…I GOT MY FIRST FLAME A FEW DAYS AGO.**

**To the guest who flamed me: Funny that you should say that. I know she seems Mary Sue-ish, but she gets better! I promise! Also, I would really appreciate it if you would keep your rude comments to yourself. I'm actually fifteen, and well, I know my stuff isn't the best, but it's not very, um…mature to say things like 'Are you 10 years old or something. God learn to write and don't post crap. People want to read about the avengers not a character you wish you could be!'**

**Dude, learn how to use punctuation. (Plus, if I didn't know how to write, I would have aced English 101. Common sense.)**

**Anyways, I really wanted to thank my new beta-type person, who said that my OC wasn't very good, but when I fixed her, she liked it! YAY! So thanks to all who followed and/or favorite this story.**

**I have the ability to move forward.**

**Heeeeeeere's chapter…uh…four…?**

Steve dreamt.

His dreams were always a muddle of his mom, Peggy, Bucky, Tony, Peggy, Loki, Al Jackson from the seventh grade, shields, Peggy, atomic bombs, spangled tights, and more Peggy.

Except now they were a muddle of a million other things. Including Juliette.

Which was odd, considering he had known her for a good long day, most of which he had spent hating her.

Suddenly a slow, half-conscious thought rippled through his head as he saw Bucky falling again: Something bad had happened. He knew it, the same he knew just before he got on that stupid ship that he would never see Peggy again. He didn't remember much of anything, though; something in the back of his mind kept trying to itch him, tried to scream at him. What was he even thinking about? A soothing feeling came to his head and then he was in a tunnel.

"Peggy?" he said, confused. Why was she here?

"Steve," she smiled, tears filling her eyes as she rushed toward him, crashing into him as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. "So, how have things been as an Avenger?"

"I—Peggy,' was all he could manage, pressing his cheek into the top of her head. "How—why—?"

She smiled sadly, looking up at him, then stepped back and brushed herself off like the sergeant **(?)** she was. "I have and always will be your conscience. As odd as that is, it really is the simple truth." She gave a stern look, causing him to shrink under her gaze. "Steve Rogers, you are not giving up on those people. They need you, you know. I know you hear them."

He realized he did hear some familiar voices: _"Oh, God, is he okay…?" "Cap! Captain! Wake up! You are not leaving us, you stupid-ass bastard!" "Check Juliette, she's breathing, right?" "You check, Cap's straight-lining!"_

He felt fuzzy and he could see Bucky in the distance, shaking his head, smiling. "Steve, you aren't really thinking of giving up, are you? What happened to 'I could do this all day.'?"

"I—but, Peggy," he blinked, feeling the voices coming back (_He's breathing! It's—he's breathing!_). "I want to see you again. I—I never got to go dancing."

She looked almost insulted. "It's been nearly seventy years and you say that _now_ as an _excuse_? Rogers, I will not accept this! You get your ass back in there and be the man Steve Rogers is, not Captain America! Be the man that _I _love, don't be the character _they _love!"

Bucky spread his hands. "She took the words right outta my mouth. Stop bein' such a punk and get in there." He grinned, knowing they nearly had him won over.

He sighed and went to hug his friend. "Jerk." He glanced at the end of the tunnel, where he saw a lot of blood and whiteness. "Until I almost die again, then?"

"Until you need us," Bucky corrected, waving him to the end. "See ya soon, buddy.'

He looked to Peggy as Bucky walked toward the opposite end. "Peggy."

She looked away. "Don't give me _any_ of that, Rogers." Her voice was shaky.

He gently took her chin, pressing his lips on hers. "I'll see you again soon. Somebody's got to make sure I don't get myself killed all the time."

She took a breath before looking to where Bucky stood waiting for her. "Goodbye, Steve. I will always be with you, you know." She took a step towards Bucky and Steve took one backwards.

"It's a lot harder now," he smiled sadly. He turned and expected her to do the same, but just before he entered the lights, he heard her burst, "Tell me about your kids when the time comes!"

He turned his head, surprised, but saw nothing.

Then he was in a room with beeping noises.

"Steve, if you ever do that again, I will tie you up and drop you from the top of this building, then I'll let Hulk use you as a chew toy." Tony was next to his…hospital bed? Why was he in a hospital bed?

"The entire staircase exploded because you stepped on a pressure sensitive bomb. You straight-lined four times, Steve. Four times." Natasha spoke to him unforgivingly, crisply, and red-eyed.

"You're lucky you aren't with Bucky, bud," Clint said seriously.

"But I was,' he blurted, "Peggy and Bucky are my conscience. They had to make me make a decision. I was—I was in a tunnel and they were there and I said goodbye again and…I saw them both, but I heard your voices."

Bruce sighed, putting on a serious face. "We heard you talking to them."

Pepper came rushing in, pale and scared. "I h-heard and explosion and thought—I thought—" she started crying as she realized Tony and everyone else were okay. Tony went to her and patted her back until she stood up angrily and yelled, red-faced, "Anthony Stark, I swear it on every god there is that exists that if you let someone put a bomb in here I will shoot you in the face!"

Tony stepped back.

Steve breathed heavily. "Ouch," he muttered painfully. Then a thought zoomed through his head—Juliette had been there, too, hadn't she? "Where's Juliette?" he yelled, despite the fact that it caused him more pain than he thought physically possible.

Clint sighed. "Your body took most of the blow because you actually used yourself as a human shield…weird, huh?"

"But…" Steve felt bad news coming.

"But she still got attacked by a bomb, Captain Underpants!" yelled Natasha exasperatedly.

"Uh...oh," he said back stupidly. Since he had seen Bucky again, he had really begun to appreciate a good friend once again.

"So she is in the room next door," boomed Thor sadly. Clint left with Natasha in tail, glaring angrily at the man lying wide-eyed in the bed.

"We'll be in the other room, okay?" grumbled Clint. Steve waved weakly.

"Friends, huh?" Tony grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

"Yes," growled Steve, "friends, Tony, and that is all it will ever be. Just because she's, you know, _female _doesn't mean we have to be dating. I'm not you."

Tony said, "We'll see how long _that _lasts."

"It will last as long as I want it to, damn it, Stark!" yelled Steve quietly. He coughed and muttered hoarsely, "Ouch."

"Exactly. Eventually you'll start thinking about her eyes and her hair and the way she smells and the way she laughs and then, BAM! You'll be kissing her," Tony said triumphantly.

"You obviously have no idea how love works for normal people, Tony," murmured Steve darkly. "Did you ever have a regular old crush in school?"

Tony thought. "Does Susie Parkinson count?"

Pepper sighed, along with Bruce. "Susie Parkinson was the girl that you bought a BMW for in high school with your dad's money, Tony. She doesn't count, no." Pepper flicked his shoulder.

"Well then, no. I've never had a regular crush," Tony said happily.

Steve rolled his eyes. "And that is why you will never fully understand me."

"Actually, I will never understand you because my dad always thought you were sent from God himself," Tony stood up, stretched, and sighed. "I'm going to go see Jules—no, wait. The Crown Jules! Yes! Nickname: the Crown Jules!"

Pepper sighed and followed Tony out of the room, leaving Steve alone with Bruce and Thor.

**A/N: I HAVE TONS OF FAVORITES OMG! Tons of them, really. So that was a short chapter, and I don't know what you'll think of the first part…but I hope you like it! Review, maybe I'll do something similar with Juliette.**

**LOVE AND HUGS AND CAKE,**

**Juliet spencer, fo' show. (UH)**


	6. Pudding

**A/N: Oh! You guys rock! All those favorites and reviews…they seriously made my day! I AM SMILING SO HARD THAT MY FACE HURTS.**

"Ow," moaned Juliette, and with ample cause; she was in really good amounts of pain.

"How is it that you've worked here for, like, three hours," Tony pouted, "and you already got blown up?"

She grinned. "I just got the magic touch."

"Obviously!" Pepper started fussing all over her. "You nearly got _killed _out there! If it weren't for Steve, you'd be dead! Heck, if it weren't for his serum, _he'd _be dead. How do you get yourself into these things, honestly…?"

"Pepper, just leave her alone, I'm sure she knows how lucky she…" Tony interjected, and they started talking over each other.

"…Tony, I don't think I was talking to you, will you please let me finish…?"

"…I was only trying to help, you kn…"

"…yes, well, look what happened the last time you tried to 'help out'…"

"…that was technically DUM-E's fault …"

"…blame everything on DUM-E, why don't…"

"GUYS!" yelled Juliette. "Ouch."

They stared at her blankly for a few seconds.

"Well, you wouldn't _shut up_," she grumbled weakly. She sighed. "So you're telling me that I've known this dude for a day and he saved my life?"

Natasha glanced at Clint. "I know the feeling." Clint smiled, twirling an arrow around in his fingers.

"This isn't SHIELD," Juliette recognized. "Why?"

Clint sighed. "It blew up. The hospital wing was badly damaged; fortunately only a few injuries, no deaths."

"Yeah," she said slowly, "but who got hurt?"

Tony counted on his fingers. "Buzz, Nelly, Finnegan, Reagan, Vanessa, Paul, Josh, Greg, Shawn, Henry, Carlton, Burton, Karen, Danny, Phil, Maria—sorry, Agent Hill, Amy, Aubrey—just to name a few."

She gaped at Clint. "A few injuries? I should be glad I didn't die and Steve along with me!"

"Told you," Tony smiled triumphantly at Pepper, who threw her hands in the air and said, "I'm going to go see Reagan!"

"Are they—oh my gosh, Tony!" Juliette gasped. "How's everybody taking it?"

Natasha sighed as Bruce walked in, hands in his pockets. "Steve thinks he sees Peggy and Bucky again, Buzz thinks he's still working at the Santa Barbara Police Department, so does Carlton, Reagan is asleep. And, well…everything is chaos, to say the least."

"But nobody's dead?" she asked again, horrified.

Bruce nodded and said, "Yeah, except small parts of Buzz's dignity, but we can tell you during 'team-building time'…which is to take place in five minutes in Wonder Boy's room. You can walk, you know."

"Team building?" Natasha gaped and Tony grinned.

"Truth or Dare…Spin the Bottle…ooh, this should be fun," Tony grinned, poking Bruce in the stomach.

"Shut up, Stark," muttered Juliette, carefully standing up and cringing. Natasha walked over and helped her walk over to the room next door.

"No, the—sp-sperm…uh, it, um—oh, look, it's Juliette!" Steve wiped his eyebrow, glad to be done telling Thor about the birds and the bees. "Hey, Jules. Sorry, I should have been paying attention, I should have—"

She smiled. "It wasn't like you beamed the bomb with your brain," Juliette sat on the edge of his hospital bed, sighing with relief as she did. "It wasn't your fault." He scooted over until he was practically off the bed.

"Here," he suggested, "you lay down, I'm being so impolite."

"It's fine," she could see somehow that he was really messed up inside; he needed it _much _more. "You're going to start internally bleeding if you don't lie down." She pursed her lips, unmoving.

He sighed, lying back down. "Okay, fine."

"So," Bruce smiled weakly, looking as though he were about to collapse.

"Go to sleep, Bruce," Tony rolled his eyes.

"Thank you!" he breathed, closing his eyes.

Juliette chuckled and Steve said, "I could go for a bit of sleep right now."

"You were just asleep for two days," Tony gaped, and Natasha chimed in, "Yeah, it's _tomorrow's tomorrow _now."

Steve glanced at everyone in the room accusingly before resting his eyes on Jules. "You knew about this?"

She shrugged. "I woke up around three o'clock yesterday and had pudding."

"Well…," Steve stole a look at the clock. "It's eight in the morning. It's _eight _in the morning…"

"It was good pudding," Tony agreed, nodding his head in Juliette's direction. "Chocolaty and creamy banana, which tasted much better than expected."

"I got apple pie," Clint made a face. "It was disgusting."

"Okay, enough about the pudding!" Natasha sighed exasperatedly. "They just got _blown_ _up_ and you two are talking about _pudding_?"

Tony shrugged before continuing, "I told you not to get the apple pie."

Natasha groaned and grabbed Tony's arm: "Shut the hell up."

"Y-yes, yes, ma'am," Tony warbled.

"Exactly," she sat back down.

"So…," Bruce wondered. "Team-building time, anyone?"

"Ha-ha," groaned Steve. "Man, I feel like I just got hit by a cement truck."

"Me, too," agreed Juliette, lying down. "Move it or lose it, Pretty Boy."

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"Screw team-building, we've been through a lot together, haven't we? I mean, Cap nearly dying, the whole Chitauri deal, Pepper thinking she was pregnant (wow that was awkward), Steve's first crush, Natasha's first sign of emotion around anyone but Clint…I don't think we need it." Tony looked around seriously at everyone's face.

"Wait, wait, wait…_whose _first _what_?" Steve said indignantly.

"Well, I suppose that hasn't happened…_yet_," Tony grinned and everybody else snickered.

As they left, mumbling about shawarma, Steve sat up indignantly.

"I don't have a crush on anybody," he muttered to himself. "Who would I have a crush on anyways? I don't have a crush…"

**A/N: Poor Steve.**

**Okay, for you fans of Psych, DID YOU NOTICE THAT I LISTED A BUNCH OF PSYCH CHARACTERS AS THE INJURED?!**

…**You didn't…?**

**Anyways, I know I update waaay fast on the weekends, but that's to make up for all of the not updating I do during the week. Be expectant of two more chapters this week, not including Saturday. I love all the reviews; this is the most popular story I've ever written! I love you people!**


	7. In Which Steve is an Idiot Again

**And now for a surprise…PART TWO OF CHAPTER SIX!**

"You should be glad you're up and walking around," Juliette sat in the sun, happily ignoring the meeting that Fury had set up for all the agents. Tony then took it into his own hands by throwing a pool party the same day. "We have a pool?" Natasha had asked when the matter was first brought up. "We do now," Tony had replied, brushing plaster off of his clothes.

She sat on a chair with Ray Bans on, soaking up the sun as Clint and Natasha swam the length of the pool. Thor and Jane were also in the pool. Somehow Tony had managed to get Phil to come, even though he was sitting in his suit on a bench.

Steve sat in his swim trunks and aviator sunglasses, watching as Tony threw Pepper into the pool, screeching and giggling. He sighed. "Can I get—?"

"Not yet," interrupted Reagan, who was lying out on a beach towel next to him. Her foot was handcuffed to Steve's and she read a book.

Juliette glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You know, you could snap that pair of cuffs like straw."

He sighed, looking back at her. "Yeah, but I don't want to drown."

"You're fine," she looked at the previously damaged spot in his chest and said, "I think I'll get in, too."

Steve cheered, ripping the cuffs off his ankle and wrapping his arms around Juliette. "Let's go!" He jumped in, taking Juliette with him.

With a huge splash, the two announced their presence in the Olympic-sized pool. Tony sighed, sitting on the steps; white Ray Bans perched on his nose. "You know, I invited the US swimming team to come, but they all had to go train. Plus Michael Phelps retired, and Missy Franklin is in school."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Did you invite Ryan Lochte?"

"Why?" Tony said insistently. "Do you think he's hotter than me?"

"No, Tony," Pepper laughed, pushing him in.

Steve laughed as Juliette's head popped out of the water. "What the heck, dude?!"

"That was hilarious!" He laughed and she splashed him. He, of course, stared at her indignantly. "This means war!"

Everybody ended up getting involved in the splash fight, which ended only when Jarvis announced that the hamburgers were done.

Bruce sat at a café table next to Tony and Thor. "Wonder what Fury's doing?"

Juliette laughed. "Something not as cool as this." Clint reached across Steve's plate and knuckle bumped Juliette.

"Nobody pool parties like the Avengers," Tony smiled.

"Except Brandon McKenze," Jane pointed out, and everyone mumbled their assent.

"And, of course, the Asgardians," Bruce nodded respectively toward Thor, who smiled and swallowed his cheeseburger.

"Indeed, pool parties are quite incredible in Asgard," Thor nodded, "In fact, Odin himself called the Asgardians the protectors of awesomeness—which, of course, includes pool parties."

Natasha nodded and Clint hummed his agreement. "Of course."

Steve sighed happily. "What a day."

"Definitely." "Oh, yeah." "Indeed." "Heck yes." "For sure." "Amen to that, brother." The group all muttered positively.

"You know," Steve sat up, "I think there's a lesson in this."

Clint and Tony groaned. "What?"

"Never trust your enemy enough to eat lunch with him!" He ran into the pool and cannonballed in.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Clint joined him, soon followed by Thor, Bruce, Natasha, and Pepper.

"Think I'm gonna wait this one out, guys," Juliette waved at Steve, who was motioning for her to come in. She sighed, watching them all mess around. She felt so stupid, just watching, but she felt hopeless being in the vicinity of the captain. Ever since he had saved her life, she had been trying to distance herself from all of them, but there were several problems in that: a) Steve was like a puppy, always trying to play with you, b) the other agents pretty much hated her. Nobody got sarcasm like the Avengers, and the others thought she was stupid, mostly because Vanessa had spread some pretty nasty rumors about her. She had eventually decided that she would have to deal with the idiocy that came with falling in love with an oblivious ox.

Or she could give herself amnesia and just start over.

"My God, he's beautiful," she sighed to herself, and jumped when a voice behind her said, "Isn't he?"

She spun around to find herself face to face with the billionaire. "Tony!"

"I won't tell anyone, don't worry," he sat down next to her, smiling broadly. "He _is_ pretty darn oblivious, isn't he?"

"Shut up, Stark," she growled.

"Wow. You even talk like him," he grinned and said, "Okay, okay, I was kidding," when she punched him.

"I don't even like him, really," she groaned, "pretty much. Kinda. Somewhat. Okay, I like him."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "He'll be falling head over heels for you pretty quick here, you know."

She glared at him. "No, he won't, Tony. Don't just tell me what I want to hear."

"I'm not, honest!" he spread his hands out. "Did Bruce tell you what he said the day he met you?"

"About how smart and pretty I was?" she snorted. "Yeah, he told me, alright."

"Did he tell you what I caught him doing later that day?" Tony smiled kindly.

"No, you didn't," she said, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"He was drawing _you_," he raised an eyebrow and gave a half-smile. "What do you say to _that_?"

She was utterly speechless.

"Exactly," Tony smiled and went back to Pepper and the others, crying, "You guys started without me?"

Juliette sat there, her mind blank. Jarvis asked her, "Agent Rosewood, would you like a drink of some sort? We have Coca-Cola."

"Huh?" she said, shaking herself out of her trance. "Oh, no, thanks, Jarvis. I'm good."

"Very well."

Steve came out of the pool, smiling and coming toward Juliette. "Hey, Queen Elizabeth. Why didn't you come in?" He sat down next to her.

"I—I just didn't feel too good," she smiled uneasily.

He looked at her worriedly. "Is it because of the bomb? Oh, no, do we have to take you to the hospital?! Oh, no! GUYS! GUYS, SHE'S DYING AGAIN!"

"Shh!" she shushed him, giggling slightly. "I'm fine; I just had one too many hamburgers."

"Oh, thank goodness," he sighed, then added quickly as he saw Tony waggling his eyebrows, "Not that I care or anything."

"Yeah, right, I mean, obviously," they both agreed vehemently, red-faced and embarrassed.

Steve cleared his throat. "I—um, I gotta…I gotta go. I'll see you—I'll see you later, at dinner, okay?"

"Yeah…dinner," she nodded vaguely. As soon as he left, she stood up and promptly walked up to Tony. Then she punched him. "Jerk!"

Pepper just sighed and walked over to where Natasha and Jane sat, wondering what Tony could have done this time.

"OW!" he scowled. "What the _hell_ was that for?"

"For making everything al…weird!" she huffed, hitting him again.

"Ouch!" he cursed. "Will you quit that out?"

"Sorry," she snapped, arms crossed.

"I know," he sighed and motioned for her to sit. "Looks like it's up to old Uncle Anthony to give you some advice."

"Oh, goodness," she at, sighing. "Tony, no offense, but you suck at advice."

"No, really," he insisted. He put his arm around her. **(The following is totally thanks to AaylaKitofNiflheim.) **"You ever heard of de Nile?"

"Um…," Juliette said, not sure where the conversation was going.

"Well," he sighed. "It's not just a river in Egypt. It flows through the Avengers Tower, too. And Stevie Wonder is drowning in it. So are you. Actually, Clint and Natasha might be, too. Come to think of it, I'm drowning in it! Man, de Nile is pretty lethal—!"

"Tony!" Juliette prompted. "Go on…"

"Oh. Right," he cleared his throat and continued. "Sorry. Anyways, just tell him, stupid dummy headed moron!"

Juliette rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Tony. Thanks a lot."

"Well!" he shrugged. "Or you could go with the non-verbal version."

"I am not doing _that_," Juliette said, horrified. "Tony, I'm _twenty_—!"

"Not that!" Tony shook his finger at her. "There is no way! If you live under my frickin' roof, you follow my frickin' rules, and that means no boys in the house!" He sighed. "Sorry. I had a dad moment. Anyways, I _meant _the non-verbal one that doesn't involve alcohol. Kiss him…! Duh!"

She sat, dumbfounded. "But—but—but…"

He sighed exasperatedly, getting up and throwing his hands in the air. "It's just some advice…!"

"Ohhhh…" she sighed. "Forget love."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

At dinner, Juliette sat awkwardly next to Steve.

Steve could literally _feel _the un-comfortableness in the atmosphere.

All of them were silent until Tony, sitting next to Juliette, said randomly, "So how 'bout them Yanks?"

Natasha glanced at him, "_Really_?"

He cleared his throat and sunk down in his seat. "Uh…never mind," he mumbled indistinctly.

They sat, once more, in silence.

The only noise to be heard came from the other agents, whispering at each other about Fury-and-so-and-so or did-you-hear-about-what-happened-to-Captain-and-that-weird-chick? Occasionally they would stare at Juliette, smirking as they relayed the latest gossip amongst themselves. Juliette naturally glared at them, thinking she was scaring them, when in reality; Bruce stared at them, a green vein throbbing in his forehead.

Steve sat awkwardly avoiding any conversation that the agents sitting next to him.

"So is it true that she blew up the stairs?" asked an excited agent.

"No," Steve burst, "she was a _victim_." He could barely bite back the words '_Go jump off the tower, dummy.' _

"Are you sure she didn't plant it so that—?" the agent asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," he cut the girl off and said, "Any other rumors you'd like to oh-so-innocently pass off to me? Because before you suggest it, _I don't believe them for one damn second_."

The agent stared at him blankly before moving to the other end of the long table.

Steve sighed, looking up.

Tony anxiously watched Juliette anxiously watching Steve.

He hadn't expected everything to fail miserably; although now he supposed that the whole 'de Nile' speech hadn't helped. He was now extremely worried, and wasn't eating his delicious steak. Steve kept glancing nervously at the girl next to him; she would look at him when he wasn't looking. It was pathetic. _Why didn't he just kiss her and get on with it?_ Tony wondered angrily.

He sighed and started talking. "Okay, this is unacceptable!"

"I thought I was the only one!" Clint sighed, Bruce nodding angrily next to him.

Natasha kept eating her food, but she still looked up as a sign that she agreed.

Thor sighed loudly and set his fork down. "This steak is much too small."

The others stared at him for a few seconds before continuing.

"What's wrong?" Steve looked up to find the others staring at him angrily. The agents on either side of the group stared excitedly at them; some even had phones out, recording.

Juliette glared at them and they quickly dropped the phones.

"I don't—what are you talking about?" Juliette shook her head.

"You two are—" Tony was interrupted by a very unwelcome face.

"Hi there, guys," Vanessa smiled down at them. "Let me just take this seat—" She pushed Juliette out of her chair and onto the floor, where her plate came flying up and fell—upside down—on her head.

"What do you want?" Steve demanded.

"Just trying to be friendly," she smiled suavely. Under the table, she stepped on Juliette's hand.

"I am really thinking about shooting you in the face," grumbled Juliette.

"What do you really want?" Steve demanded, echoed by Tony.

"Yeah, what do you really want?"

"I wanted to introduce you to a new agent," she stood and waved her arm to where a gorgeous brunette stood, talking to Phil, who laughed.

Tony gaped and Natasha said in awe (or as much awe as Natasha can say), "Phil just _laughed_?"

Steve was speechless. He watched her sway over, smiling. From the floor, Juliette gaped. She had long, straight, brunette hair, and hazel eyes that were both beautiful and intelligent. Juliette pulled at her own shoulder-length messy curls. The woman smiled broadly at the captain, who stood clumsily. He took her hand and shook firmly, clearing his throat and smiling, "I'm Captain—I mean, I'm Steve. Steve, uh, Rogers."

She laughed—Juliette was struck by the beauty of the sound—and said back, "Jennifer West. I used to work with the forensics department of the NYPD, but Phil came and whisked me away to SHIELD."

Tony could clearly see the look in Steve's eyes…and promptly slammed his head into the table, groaning.

Pepper sighed, patting his back.

Jennifer noticed Juliette sitting on the floor, covered in spaghetti sauce and parmesan. She laughed awkwardly and reached her hand down. "Pleased to meet you." Juliette blushed furiously and muttered, "Juliette. Rosewood, Juliette Rosewood."

She was thinking, _Why me? Why my life?!_

Steve was, if possible, even more oblivious than usual. "Jules, you need some help up?"

She bit back saying, "No, I _like_ sitting on the floor covered in Italian food." Instead she smiled and said, "Yeah, I could use a little help."

Steve grabbed her hand and heaved her up, where all the agents at the long table started snickering and taking pictures. Tony stood and blurted, "Let me take you to your room." Before he could, she said stiffly, "No, I—I think I need to go—um—see you guys tomorrow." She was fighting tears as she walked stiffly out of the room, followed by raucous laughter. As soon as she was out of sight of the cruel people, she ran toward the elevator (there was no way she was taking the stairs).

When she arrived at her room, she was full on crying. She took a shower and went back to her main room…and cried again. After a few minutes of this, she wiped her eyes and found herself to be furious.

What did she do next?

She punched a hole in the wall.

The next few minutes were spent sitting on her bed, attempting to glare a hole into the room next door. Just as she realized she didn't have laser vision, Tony burst in. "Are you okay?"

"What can I say?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your little plan didn't work. It actually made things a whole hell of a lot worse."

Tony sat next to her.

"I know it hurts, but I just want to say that the chick showing up wasn't part of the plan." He put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his.

"I hate people," she sniffled.

"Me too," he agreed. "Why do you think I made Jarvis?"

She hiccupped. "Because you were too lazy to do all the stuff he does by yourself?"

"Yeah, well," he sighed, "my version sounds way cooler."

She half hiccupped and half sighed. "What's gonna happen now?"

"I have no clue," Tony admitted. "I planned for a marriage in the distant future, but…guess that's not for a long time."

She started crying again. "You saw how he looked at her, didn't you? Because if there's a marriage in the distant future, it isn't going to be mine."

"It might seem that way now," he hummed, "but it won't be."

She sat up. "It's—hic—getting late. I g—hic—otta go to sle—hic—ep."

He sighed and stood. "Yeah, I know. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded vaguely. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

He left her room worried. From downstairs, he could hear laughter as Steve 'really hit it off' on his date with Jennifer.

He sighed. It would be a long road to normalcy, wouldn't it?

**A/N: I know, I know…sadness. Anyways, I hope to get a lot of opinions on this, because I have a possible story line to come from this that involves people being pushed off buildings and spies (ahem Vanessa…). LOVE YOU PEOPLE!**

**YES THAT'S RIGHT…TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY! **


	8. Awkwardness

**A/N: Yeah, yeah…you guys have been waiting for this forever. And it's not even very good. But, hey, it's here. Finally.**

The days of awkward conversation that passed slowly turned into weeks, the weeks to months, but to Steve, Juliette's one year anniversary working at SHIELD came very suddenly.

"Wow," Tony grinned, "a whole year of putting up with me."

"And who knew that you could keep my other guy inside?" Bruce smiled broadly.

"A year of forcing Natasha on dates with Clint," Pepper cocked her eyebrow at the two, both of whom were blushing slightly.

Then Clint piped up, "Yet your relationship with Tony has gotten nowhere in the past _two._"

Tony scowled.

"Shocker," murmured Steve.

"Oy!" Tony shouted, "Where've you been?"

"I was on a—um, a date with Jen. But I cancelled when I heard about the party." Steve offered a quick, pained smile at Juliette.

"After almost a year of the silent treatment from someone who called himself my friend," Juliette said amusedly, "you come back from a date with a gorgeous brunette and act like we haven't just been battling each other tooth and nail through glares across the training center. Yeah, okay."

Steve stared at his shoes and Bruce punched him in the shoulder.

"I—sorry," he muttered. Juliette smiled half-way, and for some unknown reason, she felt like someone had crawled into her throat with a chicken bone, some Krazy Glue, and a serious grudge.

"It's fine," she said, hiding the way she really wanted to bust his lip and then maybe break his leg—then, maybe, with the help from her lethal friends, he could feel about two and a half percent of what she felt right then. But the problem with SHIELD, she realized bitterly as more people joined and congratulated her, as she sat at a table, separated from the laughter and happiness around her, the problem was that they taught you how to break a man's neck five different ways with uncooked spaghetti, but they couldn't teach you how to break someone's heart.

* * *

There was a knock at her door.

She groaned and sat up in her bed, wearing an old t-shirt and sweats. As she jerked open the door she snapped groggily, "What?" before realizing who it was.

Steve yelped. "Oops…erm…wrong time?" He was slowly turning crimson.

"No, no…let's go down to the kitchen," she replied, and Steve noticed a gentle lilt in her voice that hinted at her real hometown: Louisville.

She got them both mugs of coffee and asked Steve, "Want any cream? Sugar?"

"Ah, no, that's fine," he said, waving her off. She raised an eyebrow.

"Black coffee?" she said comically. "In a serious mood today?"

He smiled. "I felt…really bad about…" He trailed off; glancing toward the little newsletter Darcy insisted on having, the newsletter that clearly proclaimed Jennifer to be a HYDRA agent.

Juliette brushed Steve's hand and he looked down at the three hands: his two firmly grasping the small coffee cup, hers' gently reassuring him. "I'm sorry about Jen, dearest." He blinked and tried to tell her—what, exactly? It didn't matter, for no words would have come out anyway. "I know how much you cared, and how much it hurts you that she was faking."

But that wasn't what had hurt Steve at all: the fact that she had suggested that he join her and abandon SHIELD was what hurt him. It told him that she really had no idea what he was like; that he would have died before leaving his team…and more importantly, his family. The fact that he had considered joining forces with the same people that killed Bucky had hurt him most of all, the thought that he could have left Juliette—but no, he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to move from one girl to another, crushing dreams and hearts along the way. Love is only genuine once…isn't it?

He couldn't afford to think that way.

He was a soldier.

Love was supposed to be—no, it _was_—impossible for him.

Right?

The hesitation, the mere suggestion of another answer scared the shawarma out of him. His head pounded, his heart was killing him—but her eyes, her hair, her _voice…_

"I want to let you know that I'm here for you now," Juliette jerked Steve back into the real world and his heart leapt at the words. "…and I really—I really…I just care, Steve. Okay? I care about you a lot."

She seemed pained, and Steve didn't why. "I—yeah. I'm glad to have you back." His voice was shaky and hinted at laughter, but Juliette looked down. "Hey," he said softly.

She looked up and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She sucked in a breath. "You know how worried I am about you? I just want you to know—no, I _need _you to know how much I care and—and, you keep getting yourself hurt in more ways than one, and I need you to know that me, Tony, Natasha—we're all there for you. We all love you, Steve. Okay? And—and we need you. As much as Tony acts like he doesn't care, he _needs_ you. Just—be careful. Please."

She blinked at him, and somehow he found himself being drawn closer and closer to her tearful face. And suddenly their noses were an inch apart…when Natasha came downstairs.

Juliette cleared her throat and mumbled something about needing a shower before running back upstairs. Natasha watched her race into the hall quizzically before saying to Steve, "What the heck was that all about?"

Steve took a breath and attempted to clear his head with some cold coffee. "I have no idea."

**A/N: So there you have it! I'm really really sorry about how late it was, but I got grounded for three weeks. So it's FINALLY up and I am happy.**

**Okay: please fill in the blanks because i ghad this great scene where Jennifer pushes Juliette off the tower and everything, but it will be published later. PLEASE don't hate me for it! I'm SOOO SORRY but SOMETHING needed to go up and that was the closest I had to being done. I'M SORRY MY PEEPS!**

**Check out the AMAZINGLY HILARIOUS Percy Jackson/Avengers/Sammy Keyes/Psych crossover me and Tibbitoo are writing! It's on out combined account TheObliviousElephants and if you love any of those fandoms, you'll love this fic.**

**Love you guys!**


	9. That Truth Hurts and Those Lies Kill

**A/N: So here's what happened to Jen. And how Jules got pushed off a building and stuff.**

"Oh, and Steve talks about you _all the time_. It's so…cute!" Jennifer sighed, leaning back. Juliette smiled; she was familiar with the feeling. Juliette gazed out over the beautiful sunset as she adjusted her seat on the rooftop. She knew this was coming, and she decided that now was a good a time as any.

"Listen, Jen…," Juliette said uneasily, "I—I don't want to infringe on your relationship. I, um…I'm really happy for you two." Juliette looked away; the lump in her throat was gradually getting harder to swallow. "You make him happy. And I couldn't wish for anything more." She smiled at Jen…only to find that Jen had such an evil look on her face that it was almost comical.

"Oh, believe me…I know," Jen stood up. "The problem is that you _are _infringing. Just not on my relationship." Juliette stood as well, the absolute horror of the situation dawning on her. "You understand missions, don't you? I suppose I should explain before you die: I work for HYDRA. Oh yes—HYDRA, as in the very agency that killed his friends. It's nothing personal—just a need to get the job done cleanly." Jen grabbed the front of Juliette's shirt and grinned evilly. "Goodbye, Crown Jules."

And then, Juliette was falling.

Weightlessly falling toward the shocked cries of the multitude below her.

She reached aimlessly for the edge of the roof, passing the floor where the Avengers' meeting was taking place. She heard Tony's alarmed scream as he realized she was falling; she saw Steve run down the stairs, and then she saw various agents' activities. Below her there was suddenly a shock of a mix of plaid and red, white, and blue. And then she was safe.

Under her was a hard object that she knew could only have been the shield; around her was the plaid part of it all, which she immediately started screaming at.

But before it could answer, she had hit the ground and was barely holding on to consciousness.

There was a massive crowd surrounding them; there were also giant cracks in the pavement from the vibranium hitting the ground with the power of kinetic energy and the weight of the two.

"Get away, get away!"

"Hey, people, move, before I taze you in the face!"

"Juliette, Juliette, can you hear me…?"

And darkness surrounded her; the only thing left, the only piece of humanity left for her to hold on to was the voice of the man who had saved her life yet again.

LINE IS THIS

When she opened her eyes, it was twilight, which told her that she had been out for a long time. "Hello," she said quietly, looking around the room.

Tony laid on a group of chairs, eyes wide open, while Pepper had his head in her lap. Bruce was leaning on the door frame, drinking large amounts of coffee, Thor was half asleep on the floor, Darcy and Jane sat at the foot of the hospital bed, and the assassins were both sitting in chairs, Natasha staring at the vital signs and Clint staring at the floor, his eyes slightly red. Steve was sitting right next to the bed, his hand on the button to call the nurse, his eyelids drooping as he watched the clock. It was clear that his body was tense; ready to spring into action as soon as any sign of the need was shown. His hair was uncharacteristically messy, his shirt still covered with bits of concrete and splatters of blood, and the shadows under his eyes told Juliette that he hadn't slept at all since her accident.

When she spoke, Steve jumped up and looked ready for anything; Bruce dropped his coffee and didn't seem to care; Thor awoke with the suddenness and ferocity of a mother tiger; Pepper stood up, causing Tony to shout, "Mother of God!" as he, too, stood; Natasha and Clint leapt into fighting stance; and Jane and Darcy were both suddenly not sitting any longer.

"Jules!" Steve looked astonished and he grabbed the nurse button and started pressing it repeatedly.

"How long was I out?" she asked. Most everyone just spluttered, but Steve answered again.

"A—a month. You were comatose and there were a few times when…" he looked down. "But we're all good now. We're all put together again, right, guys?"

Tony nodded furiously and Pepper excused herself, "I, um…I should go tell Fury."

It was clear to everyone that she was just going outside, where no one could hear her crying.

"How much sleep have you gotten?" Juliette said incredulously.

"Oooh, let's see…Monday night, last Wednesday night…and Thursday." Bruce counted on his fingers.

"Pepper slept every other day, and I guess I did too." Tony shrugged.

Jane smiled sheepishly, "Every day."

"Yeah, me too." Darcy shrugged as well.

Thor boomed, "Every Wednesday."

Steve mumbled something inaudible. "I'm sorry, what was that, Pretty Boy?" Tony asked, feigning innocence.

"I—I didn't." Steve had suddenly become very interested in his shoes.

"Steven Rogers!" Juliette was both furious and touched. "Lie down right now and go to sleep!"

"What are you going to do about it?" he asked, glaring at her.

"In case you didn't notice, I am not the only one who wants you to frickin' _sleep_, Rogers!" she glared back.

"Oh, so I'm Rogers now?" he asked, grinning. "Should I call you Agent Rosewood? Or is Rosewood fine?"

"Call me whatever you want _in your dreams_," she said forcefully. Then she pleaded, "Steve, _please?_ I'll be here in the morning."

"Alright, alright, I'll go to sleep," Steve sighed. "Satisfied?"

Juliette laid herself down as well, saying, "I suppose."

He waved to the others as he left. "See you in the morning."

Darcy, Jane, and Thor left after him, muttering about sleep. After they left, Juliette was left facing Bruce, Tony, Natasha, and Clint in total silence. Then Tony spoke, "So when are you going to tell him?" Clint sat down in the chair next to Jules's bed and sighed.

"I…tell him what?" Juliette asked, spluttering nonsensically.

"Tell him that his so called girlfriend is a double agent who tried to kill you." Natasha pulled a very Black Widow expression as she broke the small fibers of reality Juliette had left.

"He needs to know," Clint said, and his face showed not solidarity, but gentle sympathy.

Juliette put her hands over her face. "I—I can't. I just can't."

"If you don't we will," Bruce said truthfully. "It hurts, but if you can't tell him, he won't believe it. You know that."

"I need some sleep. I'll…I'll tell him in the morning."

Tony eyed her warily and then exited, motioning for Bruce and the others to do the same.

LINE LINE BLAH BLAH BLAH

**A/N: So that's what happened.**

**As depressing as that is, you gotta admit…Steve totally deserved it. But anyways. Review, tell your friends, blah blah blah. Love and cupcakes, Juliet Spencer ;) **


	10. Juliette Causes a Stage Nine

**A/N: Hey guys! I know I suck at author notes, so let's just get on to the story. Um…so yeah.**

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Juliette mumbled, pacing the floor and holding her iPhone.

Clint came out of his quarters yawning, his hair a mess, and said, "Jules, it's nine in the morning on a Saturday. Go back to—"

"My parents are coming for a visit," Juliette blurted.

Clint's eyes widened and he yelled, "ALL HANDS ON THE MEETING ROOM! WE'VE GOT A STAGE NINE!" Natasha's head poked out of her door and she said, "Stage _Nine?!_"

Tony came running downstairs, all in a panic. "Jarvis, get me those files and possibly update DUM-E, and if at all possible, please explain to me _what the hell is going on?!" _Pepper was at his heels, talking into her Blackberry at top speed, "…yes, and we'll need prime security over Jane Foster's residency, we still have some of her work there, oh, and send Rhodey over here as fast as possible. Also, we'll need to get Happy sent with Mr. Stark's new secretary…"

Thor stumbled in, still half-asleep, with bits of Pop-Tart all over his face. "Why is there a Stage Nine? Surely not at this point in the morning? I say we all get some rest and forget these imagined slights or created—"

"Hear, hear!" Bruce said as he came up from the lab, where he appeared to have slept. "Has Fury been notified—?"

Among all this noise and confusion, more agents poured in, until finally, Steve (who nobody had noticed) yelled, "EVERYBODY BE QUIET!" The noise stopped. "Now can someone explain to me what's causing all this damn chaos at ten o clock in the morning?"

Clint stepped up. "Steve, we've got a Stage Nine—"

"Yeah, I know, but _why?_" Steve looked irritated.

"Jules's parents are coming for a visit tomorrow, sir," squeaked a small agent standing next to Juliette.

"How'd you know…? Never mind," Juliette said, rolling her eyes.

"Your—Jules's—okay, who notified Fury?" Steve said, trying to make sense of it all. He was met with silence.

"And also my sisters," muttered Juliette.

Steve pointed at each of the Avengers and Jules in turn, then pointed behind his shoulder into the meeting room. They all scrambled to enter, and a few other agents made their way in as well.

"They'll be here either today at five or tomorrow at nine, depending on the flight they take," Juliette explained, slumping down in her seat.

"Okey-dokey," Tony said, "we have two options: make the place look like a university—"

"—Never gonna happen—" muttered Bruce.

"—or we can tell them the truth and let it be," Tony finished.

"Who's to say they won't blab?" questioned Natasha.

"Nobody," said Steve and Juliette in unison.

Just then Jules's phone rang. She looked up, her eyes wild. "My parents just said they'll be here at five," she said, her voice panicky.

"We can have Phil intercept them and explain everything," suggested Clint.

"I'd feel safer if you did it," Juliette pointed out.

"Or possibly you and Steve can," Tony suggested, pointing very obviously at the man in question. He shrugged. "Just an idea, guys, don't get too excited…"

Juliette flung her arms in the air, exasperated. "Why the hell not?!"

…...

"Yes, mom, this is just my _friend_," Juliette muttered through clenched teeth, having just got done explaining everything from what SHIELD stood for to the GSOD (Glow Stick of Destiny).

Brynna smiled at Steve, who sat awkwardly in the seat next to her while Juliette drove and her mother sat in the passengers' seat. Her father and other sister sat in the very back seat.

"So," Brynna said, pressing herself close to the super-soldier. Steve's mind went blank as he slowly processed the feel of her breath on his face and the curve of her obviously fake breast pressing against him. "You're, like, Captain America, huh?"

"Uh, um…," he glanced at Juliette for help and tried to non-verbally explain that he would throw himself out of the car if she didn't lay off him. "Yeah."

Juliette pretended to suddenly notice her sister flirting with her friend and gained a hard expression. "Bryn. Move over a seat. Now."

Brynna glared at her. "Why should I, Half-Note?"

Juliette glared back harder and said, pinkening slightly, "Because he's my boyfriend and I said so."

Steve blinked and tried not to look surprised as Brynna slid over to the next seat in disbelief. "You can't get Captain America. You can't."

Steve offered a half smile at Juliette as he said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I'm not Captain America. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

…...

**A/N: I had to put that.**

**Anyways, this whole new development is to put things in a lighter feel, seeing as poor Steve is still getting over the whole 'Jennifer is a HYDRA agent' dealio. Also, I think it should offer up some opportunities to have Steve MAKE A FREAKING MOVE.**

**So yeah. Leave your opinions on the subject in that little box on the bottom of the screen, because as soon as I get 50 reviews, something awesome will happen. You'll just have to see what.**

**Live long and prosper,**

**Juliet**


	11. In Which the Rosewoods Are Introduced

"What the hell?" stormed Brynna as she entered the Avengers' Tower. Bruce looked up, mildly interested, and Darcy passed by, muttering, "Bitch."

"Hey, there, Lohan," Tony said amusedly. "You must be Jules's sister. If I must say, you look absolutely nothing like her."

Amelie appeared at her sister's side and smiled. "Yeah, thanks, we know."

Tony smiled back. "That wasn't a compliment."

"…and the carpet is just filthy, it looks like there's blood all over it!" Juliette's mother came in, closely followed by Juliette. Her mother smiled at Tony and extended her hand, saying, "Hi, I'm Virginia. So nice to meet you, Mr. Stark!"

Steve came in with Jules's dad, looking frazzled, "…yes, sir, I understand."

The man with the bushy moustache smiled and said, "Now that's my kind of man! Acts just like the perfect soldier."

"I am the perfect soldier, sir," Steve smiled bitterly as Tony walked up.

Tony clapped his hands. "Mr. Rosewood! Pleased to make your acquaintance. Am I right in saying that you are the head of Rosie Acres Produce Co.?"

"Please, son, call me Jeffrey," he said, clearly pleased.

"Please, sir, call me Mr. Stark," Tony smiled, leaving Mr. Rosewood standing, quite flustered, behind him.

"You! Iron Man!" Brynna stormed over to him. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Tony looked mildly amused. "Is what some kind of sick joke? Your contact list?"

"Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but my sister can_not_ get Captain America," Brynna said heatedly.

"What do you mean?" said Tony, narrowing his eyes.

"I mean the fact that they"—Brynna pointed to where Steve and Juliette were talking—"are dating!"

Tony looked stunned as people started flowing into the room few by few. He marched over to them. "So you're dating now, huh?"

They both blushed and Steve stammered, "Well, we—Juliette—I—"

"Okay, thanks for clarifying, Steve. Jules?" Tony said.

Juliette sighed. "Brynna was getting all up close and personal with Steve, Steve freaked out, and now we're pretending that we're dating."

"In that case, you two should go on a date. Like now," said Tony. The two glanced at each other before bursting out laughing. "I'm assuming I'm the only one who knows this?" They nodded, still chuckling.

"I'll tell the others later," said Jules. "And, you know what? Just for you, I'll go on a 'date' with Steve tomorrow."

Tony fist pumped.

Natasha walked up, smiling and extending her hand. "Hello, my name is Natalie Rushman. I'll be your guide around the Avengers Tower." Virginia shook hands and said, "Well aren't you just a lovely young woman!"

Tony smirked. "Oh, she's very capable."

"Let's start with the quarters and cafeteria, shall we?" Steve asked, somewhat forcefully guiding Jules into the stairway.

"The last time I was on these stairs with you they exploded," Juliette mused.

Steve laughed. "Those were the good ol' days, huh?"

Amelie winked at some poor agent coming down the stairs. The agent stopped in front of Steve and said, "Sir, it's from Director Fury." Then he whispered in the captain's ear.

"Okay," he said, raising his head with a hard expression on his face. "Raise the alarm and, you, kid; guide these people to the quarters. Send the AIs to the command room." He nodded to Juliette. "Let's go."

Suddenly red lights began to flash and the agent hurried away with the Rosewoods.

When they got there, the other Avengers were already there. "What is it?" asked Bruce.

"Alien task force in Times Square," Tony said, pointing to pictures on the screens.

Clint groaned. "That means I'm gonna have a hell of a time clearing it out."

"Can I go?" Juliette looked defiant.

"No," Steve said at once. "You have to stay here."

"I want to go!"

"You could die!"

"So could you, but I'm not arguing!"

Steve crossed his arms. "No."

Juliette scowled.

"Alright," Steve took charge, "Banner, you're gonna have to suit up on this one. Barton, we'll need you and Romanov here, Stark, clear the skies with Thor. I'll be on the ground with Banner, and we can try to get the police in to help clear out."

"There are a lot, Captain," said Natasha warningly. "Are you sure we're gonna be able to handle them?"

"We have to," he said back. "Alright guys—suit up." The others left and Juliette exited after Steve.

Thor passed Juliette in the hall and nodded, saying, "Captain should be out soon."

Sure enough, Steve came running out of the main room without his hoodie thing **(I have no clue what it's called)** up. "Jules, are you gonna be okay?"

"I'm gonna be fine," she said, "it's you I'm worried about."

Steve's eyes were stormy as he said, "I'll be fine. Just—don't do anything stupid."

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing," she smiled. "See you later." He turned away and started walking away down the hall, but something inside Juliette couldn't let him. "Wait!"

He turned back toward her. "Yeah?"

Without thinking, Juliette ran up to him and grabbed the straps to his parachute pack, pulling him into a much awaited kiss.

Steve had an odd feeling about this; firstly, that every time he kissed a girl, they grabbed some article of clothing on his upper torso. But he hoped everything he wanted to tell Juliette had somehow been translated into the kiss: the ominous feeling consuming his head, the way she truly had been his muse for a while, that he knew how much they all needed him.

Time melted away and soon, Natasha was coming in, saying, "Captain, are you—shit!" and they both heard Natasha hissing at Clint as he backed out of the hall.

When they broke away, Juliette was the first to speak. "Be careful, I don't want the next meeting I have with you be on a hospital bed."

Steve gazed at her and the dark cloud hanging over his head swelled. Juliette took this in stride; she kissed his cheek and said quietly, "Go save the world, Captain America."

**A/N: FINALLY! AHHH I'M DYING AND I WROTE THIS TWO WEEKS AGO!**

**Please review as I am currently dancing like an idiot.**


	12. Last Kiss

**A/N: I have been trying to get this out there for a while because I couldn't figure out what the next chapter should be.**

**So this is what happened.**

Juliette ran to the command room before Tony got there and all hell broke loose.

"Alright, Stark," Juliette said, with her headset on. "Get out there and clear the skies with Thor."

"Gotcha, Princess," he said. "Oh, and something a little birdy told me…is it true?" You could hear the noises of alien death in the background. "That makes you Miss America!"

Juliette cursed under her breath. "Clint."

"Princess, we're gonna need a little help over here," came Natasha's voice over the headset. Juliette snapped at an agent.

"Filter the zoom on sector four, the Widow needs help," Juliette said evenly. "Captain, you got me on that?"

"Loud and clear," Steve said, smashing an alien head in two. "What the hell are these things?"

The aliens looked as though they were spiders, only they had on back leg that could come up and shoot poison. With razor sharp teeth, Juliette knew Hulk would be no use here.

"Damn it," she breathed. "Tony, you need to get Bruce out of there, he's exposed."

"Yeah, but there's just one—holy shit!"—he was cut off and replaced by Jarvis's voice. "Computers are malfunctioning, Miss Rosewood."

All screens were static and the headsets buzzed. "Reload the systems." Juliette voiced over the ringing in her ears. Just as they were about to do that, the screens and systems came back on. "The hell?"

Juliette's eyes zoomed through the various screens: there was Tony, zooming toward the Widow, the Hawk was just behind her, Bruce, wearing only pants, came running to where his team were at, and Thor was killing aliens. But where was…?

Tony answered her question. In a heavy tone, his voice came through the headset.

"Princess, the Captain's down."

* * *

Tony flipped his visor up, and immediately wished he hadn't. Steve lay on the ground in a pile of rubble, making moaning noises that perfectly explained the problem: he had been hit with poison right in the stomach. Charred and black flesh was gone, replaced instead by the intestinal wall. And blood. Lots and lots of blood.

"Captain, can you hear me?" Natasha said loudly.

Steve swallowed. "Go."

They looked at each other.

"Go!" he said more forcefully.

So they went. All except for Tony.

"Princess, the Captain's down."

Steve gave a short nod of the head before closing his eyes and murmuring, "Déjà vu."

And then he was gone.

Tony wiped his eye with his finger, which was an epic fail. "Jules, send me a jet. And—and we'll need a shroud. A burial shroud."

**A/N: Wow. I totally did not expect that. And now I'm crying…"Déjà vu."**

**Sob. Sob. Sob. Listen to Taylor Swift's Last Kiss while you read the second part and you will sob. Or Bonnie Raitt's Standing in the Doorway.**


	13. It's All Good

**A/N: For this chapter, look up the piece (it's classical, but it fits really well) look up the piece 'Gymnopedie No. 1 by Erik Satie.' It fits so well. ;)**

"Nice day," Steve noticed. He turned his head so suddenly that Juliette jumped. "Let's go somewhere."

"What do you…?" she trailed off as Steve dragged her by the wrist to the garage. "You can _drive_?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't like to."

"So then where are we—oh, no, Steve. We are not going _anywhere_ on that thing!" He had grabbed a helmet—a motorcycle helmet—and thrown it aside.

"We don't need that thing," he pointed to Tony's Suzuki. "We _can_, however, ride on that." He pointed to a Harley.

"Steve, I don't think this is a good idea." She bit her lip, and he grabbed her hand, innocently giving her goose bumps all up and down her arm.

"It's a great idea," he smiled at her. "I know you'll love it."

She hesitated, so he picked her up and had her sit on it. "That wasn't fair." She crossed her arms.

He got on. "Oh well." The garage opened, thanks to JARVIS, and Steve grinned. "Hold on."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "This will not be fun," she whispered, and Steve heard her.

"You haven't lived until you've done this, Jules."

And suddenly they were on the road, causing Juliette to clutch his shirt. Steve whooped and Juliette knew that it was pretty okay that she had gone. She felt the wind blowing through her hair.

Now she knew what he meant.

She let go a little, but almost tipped to one side and squealed, tightening her grip and leaning into Steve's back. She sighed. There was honestly no place she'd rather be.

Steve was perfectly at rest; he felt like nothing could touch him. He had control, for once, and times when he was at the road, alone, he really could think without having to worry about, say, a giant green rage monster.

He was in the middle of thinking about Apple products when he heard Juliette whisper something. He wasn't sure what she had said, but it didn't sound anything like, 'Oh, God I'm falling oooooooffffffffff…."

He ignored it and turned into Central Park West. "Ta-da," he whispered.

"Wow," he felt Juliette's breath on the back of his neck. "It's so gorgeous."

"It really is," he smiled and caught Juliette's hand. She rested her head on his back as they went past. After a few exasperating and time-consuming efforts of parking, the two started walking. They stopped and got ice cream cones; Juliette, a triple scoop rocky road; Steve, a triple scoop chocolate. "So what did you bring?"

"My iPod," she held the small rectangle up to him, and he said, "What music have you got on there?"

"A little bit of everything. Do you like classical music?" She looked up at the gentle expression on his face.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged.

"Then you'll love this," she grinned and placed the ear bud in his hand. He stared at it for a few seconds.

"What do I…," he started. She smiled and put the little piece of plastic in his ear. "Oh."

She pressed play and the slow piano started playing. Steve thought it was perfect for the evening; the sun was just beginning to set and the air was just clean as the red and orange leaves drifted lazily in the slow wind.

"What does it mean?" he said slowly.

"Whatever you think it means," she shrugged, "to me it means appreciating a perfect day with an incredible friend, eating an awesome ice cream cone (rocky road, you know)."

He took a bite off her ice cream cone as she blushed. "Oops," he said through a mouth-full of rocky road.

"What was that for?" she hit him in the ribs.

"I paid for it!" he laughed.

"And? I paid for that shirt, that doesn't mean I'm just going to steal it off your back!"

"It would never fit you."

"That's not the point, Steve."

"Anyways," he said, causing her to groan, which in turn made him laugh, "This is the part where you ask me what I think it means."

"What does it mean to you?" She giggled and tried to take a bite of his ice cream, but found that she couldn't reach it. "Jerk."

"Being tall has nothing to do with the content of my character. But that's not what this whole conversation is even about! I think—hey, stop trying to steal my ice cream—I think it means to be fearless even when you're scared." By this point, any amount of laughter that had been in the conversation was dissipating as his voice got lower. "To make decisions that you don't want to make for someone you really care about. Like you're my friend, and I care about you."

"To really not care what other people think?"

"Yeah, and to steal a bite of rocky road from that same person you care about!" He took another bite and Juliette laughed.

"I really thought we were having a moment, there." She giggled, nudging him with her shoulder.

"You were misinformed," he gazed down at her. "How tall are you?"

"I'm not that short! I'm five six!" she looked up at him, asking, "How tall are _you_?"

"I'm six four," he laughed, measuring the difference in height with his hand. "You're short, to me!"

"You're just tall," she looked up into his eyes. "My God, you have the most beautiful eyes."

He smiled at her. "I say that same thing to myself every time I look at you."

"Every time I look at you, I go blind," Juliette sang softly, a hint of laughter still in her voice.

"Isn't that kind of insulting?" Steve cocked his head and dropped his voice again.

"Not to Hootie and the Blowfish," she giggled.

He smiled. "Is that like saying, 'you're gorgeous, babe.'?"

Juliette burst out laughing as Steve shook his hips and acted like a diva.

"What? I actually thought that was good," he laughed, too, despite his indignant speech.

Juliette gave one last hiccup of laughing and leaned closer to him, saying, "Every time I look at you, I stop thinking for a few seconds and can only process your beautiful face. You're a walking writers' block."

He leaned down and whispered, "I haven't stopped thinking about you since I met you. I think I'm going completely nuts over you."

At that point, they were nearly nose to nose. "I still hate you a little bit," whispered a smiling Steve, "but now it's because you made me fall head over heels in love." He leaned a little bit closer and said quietly, "I think I've wanted to kiss you for a week now." He kissed her. She kissed him back. When they broke away, Juliette could barely stop smiling enough to kiss him again.

And then, all of a sudden, the moment was gone. They were just two friends, enjoying a walk in the park and some ice cream cones and some friendliness. And that was all.

"We should probably, um, we should probably get back to the tower." Steve filled the awkward pause.

"Yeah," Juliette agreed vaguely. She couldn't help but feel like the kiss had been a total waste.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"So," Tony greeted them, eyebrows waggling, "did you make out?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "No, Tony. We're just a couple of friends taking a walk, okay?"

Tony narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "So you didn't have uninterrupted PDA time?"

"No," Juliette said curtly, "why would I want to kiss Steve?"

"Your tone sounds bitter and Pretty Boy looks hurt at what you just said," Tony said decidedly, "you kissed."

"No, we didn't!" the two said in unison.

"Yes, but it got awkward and now you're never gonna talk about it again," Tony pointed at Clint. "50 bucks! You owe me 50 bucks!"

"I wouldn't want to kiss Juliette," Steve looked down, "and she obviously doesn't want to kiss me, so—"

"Yeah, except I did want to kiss you and—"

"Well then why did you say you didn't—?"

"Because I thought you didn't!"

"Well if that were true I wouldn't have kissed you!"

The room was silent.

"I have to go," Juliette ran out of the room.

Tony stared at Steve in sympathetic amazement. "You really fucked up."

Steve stood silently, staring at the spot Juliette had stood. "Do you think she'll still want to be my friend?"

Clint snorted. "Did you crash and burn? Because that was the most epic fail I've seen all day."

"Other than or including your reflection?" Tony smirked.

Hawkeye responded by shooting an arrow and letting it whizz past Tony's face. Tony scowled, then reached out his hand, grinning. "I do believe you owe me 50 bucks."

**A/N: Not the end of the chapter, don't worry. But I had to say: this was the original way that they were going to have that first kiss, and I just re-read it, so I was like, "You know what? This is pretty good. I should put it back in the story as a flashback!" So here it is. As a flashback that Juliette has when she hears Tony say the whole, "He's dead, Jim"—(oops), "The captain's down."**

**Writing is indeed a complicated thing, but the outcome is flipping amazing.**

**Continuing with the story…**

**Oh, yeah, here are some of the lyrics to Last Kiss by Taylor Swift.**

_Now I'll go _

_Sit on the floor wearing your clothes_

_All that I know is I don't know_

_How to be something you miss_

_Never thought we'd have a last_

_Kiss_

_Never imagined we'd end like_

_This _

_Your name forever the name on my lips_

_Just like our last _

_Kiss_

Juliette sat in the chair in disbelief. She made no move to follow Tony's commands, so Maria took charge instead. Staring at the screen as the jet came and took Tony and Steve's…and Steve away, she realized that she wasn't crying. She was numb. It was over before it began; he was over before he began. Juliette reflected on him. His laugh. His ridiculous habit of keeping a pencil and a scrap of paper with him everywhere. His eyes. His attitude. Him.

How could it all be—gone?

She kept remembering their _real _first kiss—the one that supposedly didn't happen, the one that

"Jules, you okay?" Tony's voice met her ears, but not through the speaker. She saw that he was no longer suited up.

She sat up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Fine, I'm fine." But her voice broke on the last word. "He was just another soldier, you know?"

Tony stood her up. "Let's go."

They walked gently to the east wing; the hospital wing. Agents fluttered about, casting glances at her as she walked with Tony, not caring what they said; she walked with the aura of Tony the alcoholic.

Tony knew what this felt like. Spending the weeks after the Battle of Loki drunk, wanting everything to go the fuck away…he knew how that felt. The time he thought he'd killed Bruce **(Amok Time, Star Trek fans) **he wanted to die. That was what this kind of pain was. The kind of pain that is so much worse than anything bodily. That was the pain everyone felt.

As they passed the window, Tony could see as an agent pulled a flag down into half-mast—an American flag, not a SHIELD one.

"It's almost funny," murmured Juliette with a hollow voice, stopping to watch the flag wave in the wind. "It'll be a bigger funeral than Princess Diana's."

Tony took Juliette by the arm as she began to cry. Real tears of real pain were flowing onto Tony's shirt, but he didn't care.

Whispers followed her everywhere. "…yeah, she was the one who…" "…the captain and then…" "…surgery, but he's probably already…"

Word like this sizzled and burned in her ears, fizzing out and leaving worries in their wake. The only protection from this was the arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. As she got closer to the hospital doors, Juliette's ears were filled with a buzzing noise.

Then they opened to reveal chaos.

Reagan—a British doctor with a black Pixie cut—ran across the lobby. "I need all my surgeons on the main OR, _stat!_ Monroe, what the bloody hell are you doing, reviewing the syringe records?! There's a dying man in there, you moron!"

Nellie ran to Tony and Jules. "He's being operated on, and it's not good—we can't access the inside of his injured area to see what's wrong, and the chances of him living—well…You guys are welcome to wait over—"

Juliette's head had shot up when Nellie mentioned the injured area. "It's too dangerous to put scopes in there, right?"

Nellie was flustered. "Well—yes, but I don't see what that has—"

"I can help with that," Juliette said confidently.

Tony looked at her quizzically, but soon, understanding flashed across his face. "Get her in there. Now."

"Mr. St—oh, what the hell, Tony, you can't tell me what to do," Nellie said, sounding confused.

"Actually, I am pretty sure I can. You see, working for SHIELD gives me the interesting ability to have military rank…which you have very little of, and I happen to be an officer. Therefore, I can order you around," Tony said in a way that only Tony could. "I outrank you." A pleased smile played across his lips.

Nellie stared blankly at them as Juliette ran off to the center of the madness. Reagan was shouting at a bunch of nurses and doctors. She turned to Jules. "Oi! What are you doing here?"

"I had direct orders to," Juliette smiled.

She made her way out to the table—and gagged. The smell of burned flesh was very strong there, and it was clear why: Steve had been hit by acid from his cheek all the way down to the middle of his thigh. "Shawarma." The sound of her voice seemed to rouse Steve a bit, because he groaned. "Shut up, Rogers," she grimaced. She pulled the flap of once-blue material up and gasped. Immediately, her powers kicked in and she saw the damage. When she realized she had no clue what the organs were even called, she cursed. "Shit. Reagan! He's messed up—" she walked to a stupid poster and pointed. "—He's internally bleeding in several places. Here, here, here…and a bit here. Also, his spleen is completely ruptured, and he never got his appendix removed. So yeah. Oh, and he's missing a lot of skin."

Reagan rolled her eyes at the last comments, but then shouted, "Aright, guys! Let's go!"

**A/N: There you go! Notice how I didn't say whether or not they'd be able to save him. Am I mean? I feel mean.**

**Oh well.**

**Deal with it.**


	14. Waking Up With a Bag Full of Hammers

The sleeping figure scared her.

Whether it was real, true sleep, or the drugged kind, she would never be sure, but she knew it scared her. A lot.

All hooked up to wires and beeping machines, it didn't look quite right. Wrinkled forehead, squeezed shut eyes, and clenched fists were not what usually painted the picture of sleep in her mind. No sound escaped the room except for the beeping noises and whirring of computers that kept it alive. Breaths came in hurried, sharp edges, taunting her with worries that they might not return. In the sunlight, she saw bandages. Everywhere, bandages.

The door burst open and her quiet observations stopped. She looked around and met a surprising sight: Amelie.

She walked awkwardly over to her sister and sat down, staring sadly at the body of Steve laying on the hospital bed. She said nothing, so Juliette didn't either. She continued to glance first at the drawings in her hands; drawings done by hands calloused from years of using charcoal like it was going out of style, hands hardened by years of learning about people. She looked at those hands. Still splattered with red and cuts from getting hit by rocks.

Then her sister surprised her by speaking: "Those are really good drawings. Did he draw them?"

Juliette looked up at her and was even more surprised at a closer study: she wore no makeup and her hair wasn't styled. "Yeah. He drew them. A while ago, actually."

Amelie nodded. "They're beautiful. They're of you, aren't they?"

"I—I guess so," Juliette looked down at the scraps of paper and realized she was right. What she had taken to be someone from inside his head was now certainly her: that little birthmark on her shoulder was there, natural golden highlights…but she looked, somehow…prettier.

"He must've really loved you, huh?" Amelie still watched Juliette as she flipped through the pictures.

As Juliette watched his chest rise irregularly, she felt little tears form in her eyes, but she blinked them back and nodded quickly.

Amelie stood. "I just came to say that I'm sorry."

Juliette looked up. "Sorry about what?"

"Everything. You know…back when you lived at home," Amelie said. "And…I'm sorry about him. I hope he's okay." And she left, as though she didn't know how much she had changed her sister's life in that moment.

* * *

Their schedules became entangled with the injured man; Tony's schedule, for instance.

"Hey, does anybody else have visiting Captain Acid-Face on their schedules?" Tony asked loudly, causing Juliette to roll her eyes.

"Captain Acid-Face?" Clint asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Tony said. "His face is covered in acid? Duh."

"Yes, everybody has visit-time on their schedules." Natasha smoothly forced the subject back on track.

"I'm at ten to—_two?!_" Clint piped.

"I got eleven to three," Bruce said.

"Twelve to four," commented Tony. "So does Pepper, of course."

"I got the same as Clint," said Juliette.

"Me, too," Natasha said.

"I share times with Dr. Banner," Thor thundered.

"Thor, please call me Bruce," muttered the doctor.

Clint glanced at the clock and shouted, "Got to go! See you at two!" Natasha, Clint, and Juliette made their way to the east wing.

Tony stared after them. "Okeydokey. So what are the cool kids gonna do today?"

Bruce face palmed.

* * *

They were met with the same sight as last time.

A few beeping machines.

A few empty chairs.

And that same figure, sleeping unnaturally in the hospital bed.

Clint sat for a few minutes, then stood up, sighing. "I think Nat and I are going to go get some food. You can stay here, if you want to."

Juliette took this as Clint's way of excusing himself from the saddened girl's presence, a way so that she could just be alone. "Thanks, Clint." The two left shamelessly.

So that was how she sat. Barely daring to hold his hand, barely daring to sit anywhere close to the lines that kept him alive, she sat and thought about how she could've fixed something. She had been in control at the time, but there was nothing she could've done. Right? Although it was true that she could've told the captain to keep a sharper focus on the giant back leg, but that wasn't anybody's fault, at least not anybody on the team.

Deep in these thoughts, struggling to stay afloat from all these doubts, she heard a noise somewhere in the background. She looked up again and what she saw was so completely elating that she jumped up, gasping.

He was moving.

Not much movement, but enough.

Just enough for her to call down the hall, "NURSE!"

The scrawny little old nurse ran down the hall and said breathlessly, "Yes?" She looked at the man and gasped. His eyes fluttered open. He looked groggily to the side. "Jules?" he said thickly.

"St-Steve!" She jumped up and almost smashed him with a hug. She then sat up and glared at him for a few seconds until he said, "Wait! Wait, don't—!"

She punched him in the shoulder, then collapsed into it. "Don't. _Ever. _Do that again."


	15. Fluff and PEETA

**A/N: this is going to be really fluffy. Hopefully. And, yeah, the chapter title for the last chapter was weird on purpose.**

**DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ME.**

There were only a few moments they had alone, and all of them were filled with silence.

Steve would sit and pretend to read, while Juliette politely watched the cars go in and out of the parking lot.

Both of them thought the same thing: Where does that leave us?

They didn't know. They didn't know how to pick themselves up and keep going from there. It was too hard.

Until one day Steve felt the struggle was probably going to cause his lungs to collapse.

"So where are we now?" he said suddenly, causing Juliette to jump.

He was met with an innocent stare.

"Is this—are we—is there a we?" he spoke strongly. "Is there a Steve-and-Juliette, or is it still Steve…and Juliette? What do we do now?"

Juliette stammered. "I don't—I don't want to be your friend anymore."

"I hated being your friend." Steve knew that at least. "It sucked."

"Can we be anything else?"

Steve looked down. "I hope so."

"When?"

This one word gave a mixture of hope and pain. When, indeed? Now wasn't right. Was it? He knew what Tony would have done: he'd have kissed her. But Steve didn't want to seem pushy. Contemplating this, he sat up, not paying attention to Juliette's expression. He didn't see the hand closing into his chin, but felt it as it jerked his head upward.

He looked up innocently, like a deer in headlights.

Juliette had a soft expression on. "Maybe we don't have to make anything official, not just yet."

Before it even happened, Steve knew that this was the real kiss. It was the kiss to make up for all the ones that should have happened but never did, the most passion filled, gentlest, beautiful feeling he had ever experienced.

It was bliss.

They stayed that way until it was pretty obvious no human being could not inhale that long. But even after, she stayed, head rested on his shoulder, his hand on her cheek, silently telling him that he wasn't alone in that hopeless feeling that you get right after you fall for someone.

**FHDGKYTEDTYKGFDJFGJKGFDRYD I CAN'T FTEOYKTEDJTYWSIRYKYTEDRUWKY I CANNNN"TTTTTTT**

**(Back to the story.)**

Tony figured something had happened that one day.

It was Tuesday the seventeenth. He remembered the date very clearly.

He, Clint, Pepper, Natasha, and Bruce had been visiting with the captain, but Bruce decided they should go to lunch with the rest of the gang (date with Darcy, of course). They agreed and promptly left, even though Juliette had stayed with Steve.

They probably made out.

And Tony missed it.

Damn it all to hell.

But now…they acted funny around each other. Sharing grins, hiding laughs…it was actually a little creepy. He knew something was up, and it consumed him so much that one day, Pepper caught him inventing spy gear so that he could crawl around in the vents with scopes attached to his head like binoculars.

"Tony, just get over it," she had groaned.

But he couldn't.

Even Bruce noticed. He had asked him, he had, "Hey, Bruce. Noticed anything about Princess and Captain?"

"Yeah…yeah, I guess," he shrugged. Then Bruce looked up at Tony. "Our new member is going to be here on Monday, Tony, you know that, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Tony nodded, and then gestured with his monkey wrench. "Name's Paul, right? Some kid from around here?"

"Peter," sighed Bruce, getting back to the diagram You was holding up. "But close enough. Should be a nice addition for the team."

"It'll take him some time to get used to…everything," Tony snorted.

Tony was unsuspectingly being led away from his suspicions about the two.

Bruce mentally sighed as the genius started spouting off about what he thought the teenager would be like.

TWO DAYS LATER…

"Hi, I'm Peter! You must be Pepper!" said the PA excitedly. "Or…sorry, I meant—"

"No, no, it's fine," said the twenty-something year old kid. "So this is the Avengers' Tower, huh?"

"Yup." Tony walked in, glass of scotch easily in hand. "Designed it myself. With the help of Miss Potts, here." He shook Peter's hand. "I suppose we should cut right to it, then?" He gestured to Bruce, who was reading a newspaper and munching on some pita bread and hummus.

He looked up. "I'm Dr. Banner. To some I'm just 'holy-shit-what-the-hell-is-that-fucking-creature?' To others, I'm the Hulk."

Peter nodded. "That must be pretty—scary."

Bruce smiled bitterly. Natasha stepped in. "The Black Widow. Nobody really knows me as anything. Oh, except for 'Ginger Ninja Master Assassin.'"

"I'm Hawkeye, or Clint Barton." Clint smiled. "Also known as 'motherfuck-I'm-gonna-die!'"

Juliette smiled from her comfy chair. "I'm Juliette. Nobody knows me by anything else, except Tony. And the presses call me the youngest daughter of the king of produce."

Thor offered a Pop-Tart and Peter glanced at Tony. "It's a peace offering. It means he likes you."

Peter took it and smiled weakly at the thunder god, unwrapping it and taking a bite. Thor smiled happily.

"He likes ducks," Tony whispered helpfully. Peter nodded warily.

"Where's Captain America?" Peter tried unsuccessfully to change the subject to something less awkward. Clint and Bruce shot furtive glances at Juliette and Tony suddenly looked scared.

"He got injured. He's in the hospital, but it's okay. He woke up a few days ago," Natasha feigned cheerfulness.

Peter noticed the glint of fear and worries in the young girl's eyes at the Captain's name and wondered why. Being a pretty perceptive guy, he assumed there was some kind of romantic affiliation with the two. Tony kept shooting worried glances at the girl.

"Maybe we could go introduce you?" Juliette smiled, and Peter could tell it was an actual, happy, bright smile.

"Sounds great," Peter smiled.

It was probably really obvious to the others that this was a bad idea.

**A/N: I decided to take the fluff and balance it out with laughs and…PETER! Yay! For Peter! Yay! Cupcakes! WHOOP FOR PETER! YEAH!**

**Anyways.**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS. I NOW HAVE FORTY REVIEWS. FORTY. (Not including that one flame I got.) Yes. 40. I will now put forty capital 'i's.**

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**I'm not sure if there are forty actually there, but I felt that however many I put was nice. Yeah. Forty. Frickin. Reviews.**

**I LOVE YOU GUYS. I NOW SEND YOU VIRTUAL CUPCAKES AND HUGS.**

**8D**


	16. Hopsital Day-- Month 2

Juliette smiled at the sleeping man, while the others stood back a bit, not wanting to wake him. Juliette promptly yelled, "Oi, Rogers! We've got company!"

Steve jerked awake, "Huh?" He looked up. "Oh, hi, Jules. Who's this?" Steve smiled happily.

"Peter Parker, Capt—" Peter extended his hand.

"Call me Steve. Please," Steve suggested, sitting up.

"Um, Steve," Peter blushed.

Just then a nurse came in. She scowled at Tony's glass of scotch. "Sir, you can't have that in here."

"I can do whatever I want with this," Tony said. "I own this hospital, hence the name: Howard Stark Municipal Hospital…?"

"Why did you wake up the—oh, hello, Juliette. Here to see your boyfriend?" Her eyes twinkled.

Suddenly Tony stood up straight, Juliette's eyes widened, and Steve shook his head menacingly.

"What's this?" Tony said, a smile spreading across his face.

"Nothing, she's just teasing," Steve said, flustered, and Juliette nodded vigorously. "Why would we be dating? That's…"

"Yeah, I mean, really…" Juliette said, pink warming her cheeks. "Dating?"

Tony whooped, alcohol flying everywhere. "That's what happened on Tuesday, huh? You kissed!"

Steve smiled wryly and Juliette glared at him. "Don't you dare, Rogers…"

"Actually, it was more like we—what is it?—made out," he grinned. Juliette face-palmed.

"I knew it!" Tony yelled, jumping into the air. "Woo-hooo! Yes! I predicted this! Suck on that!"

Bruce smiled as well. "I already figured it out."

Tony smiled evilly at his friend. "But you have something to say, don't you, Brucie?"

"I don't—what are you—" Bruce flashed warning signals and Peter backed up. A lot.

"Bruce has been going out with Darcy for two weeks now," Tony announced. "Yeah, Darcy Lewis."

"I'll be in the cafeteria," Bruce muttered.

Pepper groaned and Natasha said boredly, "This is just like an episode of _Days of Our Lives_."

Clint smiled. "Let's leave the happy couple alone, shall we?"

They left, Tony saying loudly, "Yeah, we can tease Bruce," and Pepper saying, "How is it that you're the oldest member of this team and yet you act the most like a child?"

Clint snorted. "And the youngest is the most mature." Which was met with "Unless you're talking about Captain, you should shove your head up your…"

Juliette sighed and sat down on the side of Steve's bed. "So much for secret romance."

"Hey, at least Tony didn't think we…fondue…when they're not here," Steve said darkly.

"Fondue?"

"Yeah. You know…_fondue_."

Juliette laughed as he lifted his arms and shook them above his head. "I still don't get what you mean."

Steve looked like he was having some kind of mental struggle. "Messing around?"

"Still lost," she smiled as he frantically waved his hands around.

"Um…I don't know what it's called nowadays! Man, I hate this language! It always changes!" Steve said exasperatedly.

"I think you mean hooking up."

"Yeah. At least he doesn't think that." Steve looked down to avoid eye contact.

Juliette raised her eyebrows. "You've met two gods personally and you're still sticking to the whole Catholic thing?"

Steve gave her a classic Steve face. "Now, ma'am, even if I wasn't Catholic, it just wouldn't be right. After all, who am I to take advantage over a poor young girl who can't help but find herself attracted to me?"

"Oh, as if," Juliette rolled her eyes. "What happened to the whole 'I'm just a kid from Brooklyn' thing?"

"I got fitted for tights. That's what happened."

"You are completely ridiculous, you know that?"

"I pride myself in being utterly beyond the help of medical attention." They both laughed.

She sighed, plopping down with a sigh from the pillows. They laid there in silence until Steve said, "Who's the Peter kid?"

"Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman," Juliette smiled at the face that was inches from hers.

"Oh. Yeah, I read about him in the newspapers. The Green Goblin and all that, right?" he said nonchalantly, taking her hand.

"That's a pretty tough break, about his uncle," she said sadly. "He seems like a nice guy, and really polite for his age."

"Teenagers these days," Steve shook his head, getting a laugh out of his companion.

Still more peaceful silence as the sunlight washed over them, drenching the two in warmth and light. From outside the room they could hear beeps and click-clacks of wheels, talking patients and nurses, and even from the wing next door they heard cries of newborns announcing their presence in this world, shortly followed by a call over the PA stating their names. "_We at the Howard Stark Municipal Hospital welcome James Allen into this world! Congratulations to parents Lana and Michael!"_

"I hope he stays normal even after sticking with us for a long time." Melancholy drifted through her voice as she glanced at the newspaper by the bed, declaring Spiderman to be a national hero.

"That whole national heroism thing is never enough," Steve said, his voice hard. He stared out the window. "It can never pay for all the damage you know you've caused, the people you loved and those same people that you will never get to see again. Awards are just the government's way of saying that you're a hero, no matter how many god-damn people had to die for you to get there. I got so many awards that I don't know what to do with them and I know that I don't deserve them, but nobody cares. Bucky, Peggy, the Howling Commandos…they never got awards. It's your job to put on a big heroic show, and even after I was put on actual missions…I still felt like the fake, the guy who every outsider watched. I still felt like I was singin' and dancin' up on stage." He coughed. "Put that kid in a battlefield situation and he'll die," Steve said sharply. "He should've stayed away."

Juliette sighed. "You've never told anybody this, have you?"

He shook his head slowly, still staring out the window.

Juliette didn't say anything. Pain was easier when shared, but words don't help. Words are empty.

"Sorry."

"Why?"

He looked around at her. "I sound like a jerk."

"No, it's true."

Sighing, Juliette rested her head on his shoulder. "You can tell me anything, Steve. Anything."

"I doubt that," he said, recalling all the times as a 19 year old he had stayed up all night with Bucky, listening to him tell Steve about how mad his girlfriend had gotten at him.

"I would casually remind you that at this point I am not only your girlfriend, but I'm first and foremost your friend." She looked defiantly into his eyes, where Steve saw a little fire. "A full-time friend."

"A part-time lover," Steve said.

"Exactly," she smiled.


	17. The End

"I'm walking fast through the traffic lights," sang Juliette, "busy streets and busy lives, and all we know is touch and go."

"What's that you're singing?" Tony mumbled through a mouthful of egg.

Juliette grinned and everybody groaned. They all knew they were about to get a lecture on various groups of music. Tony shushed them, spraying scrambled eggs everywhere. "Let her talk."

"It's called _State of Grace _by Taylor Swift," Juliette said excitedly, whipping out her iPod. "On her new album, Red. It's amazing!" She tore the headphones out and played it at top volume.

"Sweet drums," Tony commented.

"The greatest beginning of a song ever!" she said. Clint glanced at her skeptically. "Okay, that title goes to either _Back in Black _or _Crazy Train_. But still."

"I always thought Taylor Swift did country," murmured Pepper.

"Me too," Natasha said, slightly awed.

"Who is this…Taylor Swift you speak of?" Thor asked, his head cocked.

"No one," the team said in unison.

"Anyways," Pepper prompted. "How many months has it been?"

"Four." Juliette looked down at her plate. "The doctor said he might be able to get released soon."

Without saying anything, everybody knew immediately what Pepper had been talking about. "The scars are healing on his face and chest, and around his hip."

"And how do you happen to know that?" grinned Tony.

Without skipping a beat, Juliette replied, "Don't even go there, Stark. Steve's still got his v-card."

"And what about you, Miss Rosewood?" Bruce smiled, but Tony and Clint looked stricken. (Thor just looked confused.)

"You'll never know, will you?" Juliette grabbed her keys to the 100% electric Tesla car Tony had bought her.

"We have your files, you know,' Tony said, his voice sounding like an angry parent.

"Yeah, we could totally figure it out and then gut the kid like a fish—" Clint started, grasping his bow menacingly. Natasha punched him on the shoulder.

Juliette shied away. "I gotta go." Her words tumbled out of her mouth and she ran out hastily.

Tony stared at the floor. "Betcha Cap knows."

"Let's go with, hmm?" Clint grinned, and Natasha called out, "OI, PETER!"

DAFHFGFCHGDFGSDSGJDFGHKRTYGU IHTJGFHG

Thor glanced anxiously at the faces surrounding him. "I know that you do not agree, but he is my brother, and he is repentant."

Outrage flew across Natasha's features and she yelled, "Look at what he did to us!" before storming out, slamming the door shut behind her.

There was a tense few seconds as Steve stared at the pillow on the floor that the assassin had been sitting on. Clint got up and went after her.

"Loki tried to destroy us, Thor," Tony said seriously. "Why should we try to help him?"

The rest of them nodded. Tony took a few seconds to glance at Peter, who was busily eating a hoagie.

"What?" he said through a mouthful. "It's really good!"

Juliette slapped it out of his hands. It fell to the ground and Peter stared at it, horrified. "That was my hoagie!"

"Anyways," Bruce said dismissively, "why should we trust him?"

"He is not well. It is not like him to kill mindlessly," Thor said. "Someone…or something…has twisted his mind. He is being controlled, possibly through torture! He is a victim, a slave, used only until a job has been finished! I do not care what the others on Asgard say, he is my brother and he is in grave danger!"

Thor was standing now, chest heaving with anger. "If you do not trust me enough to do this one wish, then I…I will leave. I will help him myself!"

As he left, the remaining few on the team sat dumbfounded.

"We should probably investigate it, guys…" Bruce looked from each of the members to the door. "I respect Thor, and…well…he might have a point."

"He is an enemy," Steve said roughly. "Look at what he did to Clint and Natasha! Look at all the times he betrayed those he was loved by, all the people who died because of his ideas for 'true power' and 'freedom is life great lie'! I say, we give him one chance, and if he blows it…we'll abandon him. I won't make the same mistake twice."

"Loki deserves a chance." Tony stood, his hands at his lips. He began to pace. "Those things he said about freedom and true power…they didn't sound quite right to me. They sounded like the crap they made you spew at the beginning of your career, Cap. They sounded like lines. I think Thor might be onto something." When he looked up and saw blank stares, he sighed. "What's one way to torture a Frostgiant?...with _heat. _I think someone was controlling him. Symptoms of excessive heat exposure: dark, sunken in eyes; confusion; unbalance; occasional hallucinations; paler lips or face due to loss of circulation…anybody remember what he looked like when we met him versus what Thor knew him as?"

The people gaped at him.

"We should help him," Peter concluded.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"But how do we tell Fury?" Juliette asked uncertainly.

Tony smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"We don't."

**A/N: Wow, you guys. We have come all this way. And now...it's over. Just a sneak peek at the sequel, trasition from fic 1 to fic 2. Yeah. I'm evil. I know. I haven't decided what to call it yet, but keep your eyes peeled for another fic with Juliette in it!**

**I just want to thank everyone who made this possible, everyone who gave me reviews and such to keep me thinking, 'Hey, I guess someone's expecting it!"**

**I hope to hear from you all soon.**

**Very soon.**


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